Tales of the Demon Prince: Part 2
by Kitana4
Summary: Pt 2/2. Terry and Aré find themselves out of their time. Nearly fifty years into the past, will they be able to find Nakumaru and the others before he can change the past or will time itself fall apart?
1. Story Thus Far & A Little About the Fae

**A/N:** Here's the start of part 2. Thanks to everyone who read part 1 and have been waiting for part 2 to start. Unfortunately life is beginning to catch up with me so please don't expect frequent updates. There _will_ be updates just not as often as I would hope there to be. Anyway, here's a bit of a refresher on part 1 and a little bit about the Fae and Gaia. Feel free to leave a review and enjoy the story.

**The Story Thus Far:**

Our story started off with a new kid enrolling into Hamilton Hill High School and being in all of Terry's classes. The new kid is Aré Oni. He is instantly welcomed into the popular crowd and it is pretty obvious by where he lives he is wealthy.

At a fundraiser a day later there is an attempt on Bruce Wayne's life. The would-be assassin is Aré, though only a handful of people could see it was him. It turns out Aré is nearly five centuries old and has known Bruce since he was ten years old. Aré tells Terry the story of how they met and eventually what led Bruce to become Batman. (There is heavy influence from Batman Begins which I have never and will never own.) Also revealed within the story is that Aré is a Fae Halfling, his mother having been human, and the Crown Prince among the Fae. Also, Bruce is the descendant of Aré's mortal sister, Mari, making Aré a very distant uncle.

The story is being told while Terry and Aré are trying to track down Paxton Powers, who it is found to be the one who put out the hit on Bruce. Even further in it is revealed that Aré's own brother, Nakumaru Enzeru, is behind the original plot to kill Bruce. They find Naku is plotting something big and he has gathered some powerful allies from Gotham's underworld.

Also in the story it is revealed that Nakumaru framed Aré for the murder of a man and did so well as to make Aré believe he had done it. Batman figures out Aré is innocent and he captures Naku to find out the exact extent of why he had done it. While captured it is revealed that even Naku is not in control of himself but is under a spell which controls all of his actions. He is only free during the time of the new moon. Aré is unable to remove the spell cast upon his brother and Nakumaru disappears for the next fifty years or so.

While tracking down Paxton we learn Nakumaru is gathering various pieces of machinery with which to build a time machine. They know they have to find Naku before the machine is complete and is used.

We left off in part 1 with Terry finding out Bruce is his father and Aré trying to find a way to locate his brother before he is able to get the time machine working. Part 2 starts off right where part 1 left off.

**A little bit about the Fae and Gaia:**

The Fae as a culture is somewhat similar to Medieval Europe, though mostly in style of dress. One influence I've had as to they're style of dress is from the Fire Emblem games, especially the Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn series. Aré's royal robes are almost identical to the character Reyson from those games. To know what those look like simply go to .net and look in the images gallery for those two games.

Their native language is Japanese, as stated in the last story. They do have various classes but it is not impossible for one to change class. As the years have gone by they have begun to adapt certain mortal conveniences. More will come about as the story progresses.

The island of Gaia is about the size of California but since it is hidden by magic only those who know it's there can find it. Or one who is just _very_ lucky. Its inhabitants obviously consist of just the Fae, humans live there as well along with four other species, each created in the Gods images.


	2. One: Epiphany

**Chapter 1: Epiphany**

For the rest of the night Bruce had thought of various ways they could use to track down Nakumaru before they managed to complete the time machine and put it to use. Thus far everything he had come up with, zilch actually, wouldn't work. He'd gone to bed agonizing over the problem. After only a couple hours sleep he'd woken up as it had suddenly hit him as to how to locate Naku and the others.

Suddenly wide awake he jumped out of bed, not literally he is eighty after all, and readied himself for the day as quickly as he could. He went to wake Dick, whom he had finally convinced to just use his old bedroom. He hit the side of Dick's bed with his cane, waking him.

"Geeze!" Dick cried, startled. "Give a man a heart attack why don't you?"

"I figured it out." Bruce said, ignoring Dick's comment. "Hurry and get ready. We're going over to Aré's."

Knowing better than to argue Dick did as he was told and soon found himself standing outside the door to Aré's condo. "You do have a key, right?" Dick asked.

"Since when have we ever needed keys?" Bruce replied. It took him no time at all to bypass the lock. They went inside and took no time in locating Aré's bedroom.

"I'll wait out here." Dick said, remembering Aré's mood from the previous night and knowing it would not be a pretty sight by waking him so early. Bruce also knew what kind of attitude Aré was going to be in but he figured he'd make up for it with the idea he had.

Bruce entered the bedroom and was not in the least surprised to find Aré sleeping. What did surprise him was the state the sheets were in. When Aré was upset, which he clearly had been, he would toss and turn causing the sheets to end up every which way. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of his bare chest Bruce wouldn't have known he was asleep.

Moving over to the bed Bruce took a moment to figure out the best method of waking the sleeping man. He briefly remembered the one time when he'd been about thirteen he'd ripped the sheets off Aré's bed as a prank to wake him up. Aré had woken up but Bruce had paid dearly for the prank as he had also thrown a bucket of ice water onto him as soon as the sheets had come off. Aré had chased him all through the manor and when he had finally caught the boy he'd thrown him into the indoor swimming pool, of which he had made the water equally as cold, if not more so, than the bucket of water Bruce had thrown on him.

In the end Bruce ended up picking up his cane and poking Aré with the end of it. The first couple of pokes produced nothing more than Aré curling more in on himself. A few more and Aré's hand came up and grabbed the cane. "You poke me again with that thing and you're both gonna find yourselves out the window. What's so _freaking_ important that you felt it necessary to wake me up at…" One silver eye came open and glanced at the clock beside the bed, "five thirty in the morning? _Knowing_ I've only been sleeping for about an hour and a half?"

"I know how to find Nakumaru."

The other eye came open and Aré rolled onto his back and looked up at Bruce. One hand came up and rubbed his eyes. "Enlighten me."

"We've been tracking the wrong person. Your father disappeared the same time as Nakumaru and Sora did, right?"

"Yeah so? What does my father's disappearance have to do with finding Naku?"

"Everything. We both know your father isn't dead because you would know if he was you would feel it."

"Get to the point because the sooner you do the sooner you get the hell out and I can go back to sleep."

Bruce took a deep breath. "Track your father. They can't completely block his presence from you. If you find him you find the others."

"I've tried but it's always been too faint for me to find."

"That may be so but up until now you haven't been close enough to accurately pinpoint his location. We know they are in the city. If they have your father with them, which I suspect they do, wouldn't you be able to sense him now? Being this close?"

"Maybe, after the first few years of failed attempts I gave up." Aré looked at the clock again. He sat up, fighting back a yawn. "It wouldn't do any good to try right now. I'm not awake enough to focus properly. Give me a few hours. Besides, your kid won't be available until the afternoon. I'll go to the school and see if he's still willing to help." He laid back down and pulled the covers over his head. "Now go away and let me go back to sleep."

Bruce stood there for a long moment looking down at the covered form before turning and leaving the room. Dick was still waiting outside and spoke once Bruce had closed the bedroom door. "That went better than I thought." Dick said.

"Me too." Bruce replied. He thought a moment about Aré's recent behavior. He knew Aré didn't necessarily need as much sleep as other people did and could only find the reason for Aré's deep fatigue to be emotionally induced.

With a couple hours of time to kill the two took to looking around the condo. There were many modern amenities but also some things which were obviously much older. There was a katana displayed as an antique. Both men knew that while the sword was old enough to be one that Aré kept the weapon in prime condition and most likely used the weapon from time to time. He'd more than likely carried the weapon on his person a lot during the past twenty years as the sword marked his status as Crown Prince among the Fae. Bruce doubted he'd been presented with his father's sword and if he had he'd never have taken it.

Also discretely placed were various photos which had been taken over the decades. One frame caught Dick's eye. He picked it up off one of the tables in the hallway. He stopped Bruce, "This looks like you." He said, pointing to the picture with Aré standing with a boy of about fourteen. "Any idea who these other people are?"

Bruce took the frame. "That is me." He looked at the other photos within the frame. "So is that one." The picture he pointed out to Dick showed Aré holding an infant. The only reason Bruce knew the infant was him was due to the small monogram on the baby's hat. The other few pictures showed Aré with various family members at many different times, dating as far back as 1947.

"Do you think he still has the room with all the other things he's picked up?"

"Probably, though many of his things are back at the manor. When he realized he had to leave he stored some of his oldest things there." Bruce put the frame back where Dick had picked it up. "He has picked up quite a few things over the years after all."

The two went back into the living room and Dick sat down on one of the large couches. He let his head fall back against the cushions. He brought his head back up when he heard Bruce sit down in the couch across from him. "If Aré can't locate Kane's presence do you have another idea to find Naku?"

Bruce leaned forward on his cane. "No, if it doesn't work then the only thing left to do is wait for Naku to use the machine. That would be the only other way to find them."

* * *

The alarm clock buzzed at exactly 7:15 and Aré opened his eyes to glare at the device. He was beginning to rethink his plan on going to school. It wasn't as if he really _had_ to go. History never changed, he'd been in America since the nation was founded, a good portion of the English books the students were forced to read Aré had read when they were first published. The only classes that actually interested him were Math and Science but the call to learn something new in those subjects wasn't quite strong enough to grab his attention. However the prospect of possibly finding his brother and ending all of this was and with a groan pulled himself out of bed and trudged over to the bathroom for a shower.

He spent a good fifteen minutes just letting the water run over him in an attempt to wake himself up. After washing and getting out he decided on something that would be considered old fashioned to wear, a faded and nicely worn in pair of Levi's and a t-shirt. He left his bedroom and into the kitchen he was surprised to find a meal and a steaming mug of tea sitting down on the table. Bruce was putting the last mug on the table and Aré gave him a strange look as he sat, laying his shirt across his legs. "Who are you and what have you done with my nephew?"

Dick was already sitting and smiled behind his own mug as Bruce sat. "Amazing isn't it? Who knew the aliens would have left him behind?" Bruce sent the younger man a glare.

Aré picked up his, inhaling the scent of black tea and lemon, and took a sip. He smirked at Dick's comment. "Who knew?" Aré asked. He took another sip of his tea and set his mug down. "Wow, you actually made breakfast." He picked up a couple of pancakes off the stack and put them on his plate then proceeded to put butter and syrup on them. He took a bite. "Not bad for someone who spent three fourths of his time learning to fight."

"You're a brave man." Dick said, watching Aré eat. "The tea I don't mind but I wasn't brave enough to try his cooking."

Arélaughed at that and Bruce glared. "Well we can't all cook like Alfred. Though these aren't half bad."

Something passed over Bruce's face at the mention of Alfred but it vanished quickly. He turned the subject to more important matters. "How long after you locate your father will we have to act? Will Nakumaru or Sora know what you are doing?"

Aré finished his meal and pushed his plate aside. "It all depends really."

"On what?" Dick asked.

"On the spell used upon my father. The spell is what will determine Sora's knowing. Nakumaru on the other hand, he'll know but it won't be until the moment I've located my father. What I don't know is what he'll do about it."

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"Even since before we learned he becomes temporarily free during the new moon Naku has been fighting the spell. Depending upon how much control he has will determine whether or not he tries to stop me."

"He obviously does not have very much control considering everything he's done lately." Dick said.

"I know it doesn't look promising but I still have hope." Aré checked the time. Realizing he was going to have to leave soon he stood, put his shirt on, and placed his dishes in the sink. "I will be going after Nakumaru with or without Terry's help. I'll ask him but," he shrugged, "the choice is ultimately up to him. Thanks for the pancakes." He gave the two men a small smile before going and finished getting ready. He came back into the kitchen once he was done and proceeded to put his boots on. "I'll give you a call this afternoon." Aré picked up a notebook and stuck a pen down the spine. "One thing I haven't figured out yet is why everyone depends upon computers for everything now days. During the two days I've been in that school not a single one of those students carries a pen and paper." He shrugged. "It's one thing I've yet to figure out."

"You said that already."

"Really? Guess that's what happens when I get woken up at _five thirty in the morning_." He pointedly glared at Bruce, then reached over and grabbed a set of keys. "Be sure to lock up when you leave. I'll call you later."

"You have all our numbers?" Dick asked, just to be sure.

"Of course I do." Aré replied. "I made sure to get them through the proper channels." He smiled. "I got them from Barbara." After making sure he had everything, phone included, he left the condo. Granted he only had about ten minutes to get from his home to the school, a normal ten to fifteen minute drive, he wasn't worried about being late. Decided to forgo a vehicle he "walked" and made it to Hamilton Hill High with five minutes to spare. No one saw him arrive, which is good because he wasn't about to explain himself.

Aré couldn't find Terry during those last five minutes and made his way to the first class of the day. Luckily for him it was US History, a class he could sleep through if he wanted. The problem with getting a little shut eye was the fact that his mind was in overdrive.

Aré arrived at the class before Terry and went to his seat at the back of the class. The monitor in front of him could keep the teacher from seeing what he was doing. He opened the notebook and took the pen from its spine. By the time Terry and Max joined him at their seats he already had the first few lines of a sketch started. Terry looked about as worn out as Aré felt. "Didn't get much sleep last night did you?"

"No," Terry replied, "I couldn't stop thinking about what Waller told us last night. It's still so hard to believe."

"What is?" Max asked in a low voice.

It appeared Terry hadn't yet told Max of his true relation to Bruce. Aré leaned over and quietly replied, "Apparently we're related."

Max's eyes widened in surprise. Before she could reply the teacher started class. She started her computer and opened to the current lesson.

Terry did so as well and tried his best to keep his attention focused on the lesson. He glanced at Aré out of the corner of his eye and he didn't appear to be trying to pay attention. He was leaning back in his chair, right ankle perched upon left knee, and more engrossed in his sketch than history from some forty years ago.

Mr. Richardson was currently going through the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks and looking around for anyone not paying attention. Richardson stopped talking and all heads turned towards where he was looking at. "Am I boring you Mr. Oneye?"

Aré's eyebrow twitched and he looked up from his drawing. "Not at all Mr. Dickson, but you are wrong about which tower was hit first and the time. That and exactly where Flight 93 crashed. And my name is pronounced Oh-knee not Oneye."

Richardson was not pleased by the play on his name. "Would you rather be the one to teach the class?"

"Not really but it seems I know my history better than you do. Probably should have learned history before taking on the teaching job."

"And what makes you think your version of history is the correct one?"

Terry and Max were each looking at Aré with a _what the hell are you doing?_ look. "That's easy, because I—" He stopped talking when Terry kicked him. What was he just about to say? _Because I lived it? I watched the second plane hit the south tower on Good Morning America?_ "-researched it."

"Well, you are correct. For those of you who were not paying attention this would be a good time to start doing so." One last time to Aré he said, "As soon as class is over we are going to discuss your attitude Mr. Oni." Gazes returned to the front of the class.

Aré gave a single nod before returning to his sketch. _I can't believe I almost said that! I could have just blown my whole cover. I could have just…_ "Augh!"

Once again Max and Terry's gazes shot towards Aré, who had slammed his notebook down during his outburst. A quick glance of the room showed that no one had reacted. Aré got up and retrieved the pen that had gone flying. "Why isn't anyone moving?" Max asked when no one else reacted again.

"I've stopped time in this room. All except for you two and the clocks." He returned to his seat.

"Are you alright?" Max asked.

"I've got a lot on my mind. I'm also not interested in listening to Richardson drone on about something I've already lived through." He picked up his sketch again. "I'm going to find my brother tonight. I don't know if you're still going to work your night job," he couldn't come out and say Batman, to him that name would always belong to Bruce, "and if you're not that's fine but even after all of this is over I'd still like to stay in touch."

"I did think about quitting at first." Terry said. "But I don't think I'm going to. I enjoy it too much."

Aré chuckled. "Ah, thrill seeking. Alfred threatened to call the men in white coats at first when your dad first decided to create his alter ego. The only reason he didn't was because B said it wasn't about thrill seeking. Then again he did get shot his first night out."

"Did he just say Mr. Wayne is your dad?" Max asked Terry.

"It's true." Terry said. "We just found this out last night. Which makes him my uncle." He made a gesture towards Aré. "It's a complicated story which we don't really have time for." He gestured towards the clock. "You might want to allow the class to keep going." He said to Aré.

"Why?" Aré asked, not turning his attention away from his sketch.

"Because it might be a bit odd to go from being twelve minutes into class to suddenly being done."

Aré looked up from his sketch. "Fine." Richardson's lecture started up again and various clicks resounded as the students took notes. Aré glanced up front for a moment. There were so many things he _should_ be doing but couldn't yet bring himself to do. History brought back so many memories for him. He remembers when the attacks had happened. By the time anyone truly knew what was going on it was too late and there was nothing that could be done.

Returning to his sketch he began shading in the two Batman's he'd drawn. While Terry's suit was interesting he still preferred Bruce's design more. What was he thinking? Terry's was a hand-me-down anyway. The class eventually ended and Aré was up and out of the door before anyone else. Terry quickly followed him and caught up with him in the hallway. "When do you want to do this?"

"Originally I wanted to wait until later this afternoon but now that's all I want to do. I can't get this situation out of my head." He stopped at the edge of the hallway and Terry stopped too. "You really are willing to help me?" Terry nodded. "How do you feel about ditching the rest of school?"

Terry grinned.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?"

Terry and Aré both turned and saw Mai and Max both looking at them with questioning gazes. Mai had her arms crossed, "You won't be able to do much fitting in if you start skipping classes after three days. And people are going to start asking questions if you keep talking like you did in History."

"How did you find out?" Aré asked.

"Blade. So again, I ask, where are you going?"

"B thought of a way for me to find Nakumaru. There's not a lot of time left before they get the machine working. Even… I have to try."

Mai's expression softened. "I know you do." She said, uncrossing her arms. "But…" She glanced back at Max.

"It's all right." Terry said. "Everyone here knows about each other."

"How does she know?" Max asked.

"We've been dating for nearly four hundred twenty years." Aré said.

"You look good." Max said to Mai.

"Reincarnation." She knew she would not be able to convince Aré to let her go with him. At least, not when he actually went after his brother. "I'm coming with you." She said to Aré.

"You should stay."

She shook her head. "Please, I lived through everything Richardson's teaching in my previous life. Besides," she reached over and took his hand, "I'm not going to let you go without making sure you're all right first."

"I'm fine." Mai raised an eyebrow. "Really. And I'll be better when I've found my brother."

"Then we'll leave. I even know of a place where we can go where you won't be disturbed."

The four of them snuck through the hallways and out of the back of the school without being noticed. Mai led the three of them to one of the more well kept parks in the city. The design of the park was a mixture of modern and older Eastern design. "When was this created?" Aré asked, spotting a cherry blossom tree and moving towards it.

"About ten years ago. Reminders of home?"

He nodded and sat at the base of the tree. His eyes took on a wistful glean. "I used to play in forests of these trees when I was a child." He took a deep breath and brought his mind back to the present. He shifted his position so that is legs were folded under him. "Do me a favor and warn me if anyone is coming." To Terry and Max he said, "I don't know if you're going to want to watch. Some people tend to be disconcerted by what my eyes do."

"What do they do?" Max asked.

Instead of answering Aré took another breath and reached out for his father's presence. Mai knew what to expect but Max and Terry were surprised when Aré's eyes began to glow.

Terry had seen much in the past year and was able to quickly control his surprise. "How long do you think this is going to take?" He asked.

"I don't know." Aré said, his voice echoing slightly. "It will take however long it takes."

"Is your voice supposed to do that?" Max asked.

Color entered Aré's cheeks. "Sometimes. It all depends on how much power I'm using." One shoulder rose and fell in a shrug. "There's a reason I try to avoid using my powers."

"You mean using anything that changes your normal appearance. Though glamour doesn't count." Mai said.

Aré's eyes returned to normal and he sent them all an irritated look. "I'm never going to be able to do this if you guys keep distracting me."

"Sorry." They said.

Aré shook his head then went back to trying to locate his father. By description the technique might not sound hard to do. Problem was that it was harder than it sounded, especially when the one presence he was searching for was being masked. _Where are you papa?_ He silently asked.

It had been years since he had seen his father. The two were closer than they probably should have been, given that the Council always seemed to interfere at every turn. He remembered the one time he'd yelled at the Council, demanding to know why they continued to keep him and his father from seeing each other. Their reply shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. _"If we had our way you would have been destroyed the moment you were born. Unfortunately your father wouldn't allow such a thing so the only option left to us is to keep you two apart as much as possible. We can't very well allow your father's love for you to turn into a true father-son relationship, now can we? So therefore, yes, we will do everything in our power to keep you away from our King."_

While their words had hurt he'd been reassured by the fact his father _did_ love him and reminded him of that every time they saw each other. Plus Kane had found a way for them to keep in touch without the Council's knowledge but when he had disappeared things between Aré and the Council had gotten much worse.

Aré realized he was now distracting himself and cursed himself for his lack of focus. He was never going to locate Kane if he kept agonizing over the Council. He returned his focus to his father, picturing him in his mind. With eyes the same shade of blue as Naku and hair the color of the sun and with the same build, skin tone and crooked smile Aré had inherited, though Kane was a couple inches taller than himself. He remembered how it felt to be in the safety of his father's embrace and the sound of his voice as he told him that he loved him and to ignore the words of the Council. He remembered the sound of their combined laughter as his father chased him through the forest of cherry blossoms. _Aré._

Kane's presence hit him so fast and so hard Aré found himself bent over gasping for breath. His eyes returned to normal and he fought hard to keep his tears at bay. While he had logically known his father was alive not being able to feel his presence all of the time had begun to give him doubts. Mai's voice brought him back to his surroundings and he looked up to see her looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I know where papa is." His voice was a low awed whisper.

"Where?" Terry asked.

Aré hesitated, should he tell the boy? Part of him said no, to try and protect him like he had done with Bruce. But then the other, the more practical part, knew he was going to need help. "The Towers," Aré said, collecting himself and standing, "Gotham Park Towers."

Terry hoisted his backpack, "Two minutes."

Aré nodded, he pulled out his cell and handed it to Mai. "Call B and tell him where we're going. I need to hurry." He gave Mai a kiss.

"What about me?" Max asked.

"Tell Terry to meet me there. Top floor apartment, west tower."

"Be careful." Mai said.

Aré smirked, "Duh." Then he ran from the garden.

* * *

_"Aré."_

The name, whispered by the man in the glass coffin drew Nakumaru's attention. He moved from the desk he'd been sitting at and over to his father. Kane's eyes were half open and completely unfocused. In the twenty years since his mother had trapped his father this was the first time he'd moved. "He is coming for us, isn't he Father?" Naku asked, watching as Kane's eyes closed once again. "Mother won't allow his interference. He won't succeed." _Though I hope he does._

Naku left the room to check on the progress of the time machine. "Is something the matter son?" Sora asked, turning away from the large window she had been looking out of.

"Not at all Mother." She apparently didn't know Aré had located them and it took all of his will not to tell her. "I was going to check on the mortals. While they are currently useful they won't be worth anything if they cannot get the machine working properly."

"Very well." She waved him off and returned her attention out the window.

Naku left the apartment and went down into the basement of the building. Shriek and Spellbinder both looked up from the monitor when he entered the room. "We're just finishing the calibrations now. Another minute or so and all this thing needs is power." Shriek said.

"Which Mr. Powers will provide." Naku examined the machine. "You have input the coordinates I gave you earlier?"

"Yes." A ping from the computer told them the calibration was complete.

"Give power to the machine and be quick about it. We're about to have company. Inque return to the apartment and inform Mother things are almost ready."

A quick nod from her and Inque disappeared through the doorway. Powers moved over to the machine and placed his hand where normally a power supply would be. It would take no time at all to give the machine full power.

When Inque returned Sora was with her. They had each learned not to cross her. They also knew she despised every one of them. They were but a means to an end for her, much like the man in the coffin upstairs that each had seen. Two could play that game and at the moment they were useful to each other.

"The preparations are complete Mother." Naku said. "We simply need to activate the device."

"Good." Sora said. "Then start it."

Naku seemed to sense something. He looked up at the ceiling. "He's here Mother. We should be quick."

Sora's calm expression changed to one of absolute hatred. "Start that device _now_." She ordered. "He cannot follow us."

Inque started the machine.

* * *

"What happened to waiting?" Batman asked once he had caught up to Aré.

"No time." Aré replied, breaking the window and entering the apartment. "I take it B knows where we are."

"Yeah, and he's not too happy with you."

"Tough." Aré wasn't even trying to be quiet. He was focused solely on one thing. "They're so close. I can feel them so clearly now."

"That's good right?"

Bruce answered for Aré who seemed not to have heard him. "Yes but that also means they can sense him as well."

Batman followed Aré, who appeared to be headed towards one room with single minded determination. When he opened the door to the room he'd been heading towards he froze for a moment before crying, "Papa!" and running into the room.

Batman followed and what he saw caused him and Bruce to react in the same way. "Oh my God, Kane." Bruce said.

"Is he dead?" Batman asked, moving over to stand beside Aré and looking into the coffin.

"No," Aré said, it was obvious he was struggling with his emotions, "but the spell he's under makes him seem so. It's powerful magic and forbidden to use."

"Why?"

"Because if done incorrectly it could kill both the castor and whoever they're casting the spell on. Sora is very lucky. If she had killed him no amount of influence over the Council could have saved her. Even this here now with proof will land her in deep trouble."

"Maybe…" He was going to say Bruce but stopped. What should he call him now? Mr. Wayne? Bruce? Dad? "Barbara can get him out of here and take him to the manor."

Aré had heard the hesitation in Batman's voice but didn't have time to remark on it. "Maybe." He forced himself to turn away from his father. "They're not in the apartment but they are in the building."

"Where?"

Aré closed his eyes and concentrated a moment. "Below us." He said, his eyes opening again.

"The basement." Bruce said, "There's an emergency stairwell leading to all floors not too far from you."

"Basement," Batman repeated, "there's a stairwell not far from here that leads straight down."

Aré nodded but his attention had returned to his father. He knew he had to go but he didn't want to leave his father behind, not like this.

Batman seemed to sense this. He reached out and placed a hand on Aré's arm. "You won't be able to save him like this. You want to save your family but you won't be able to do that if you don't move now."

Aré tore his gaze away from the coffin and towards Batman. "You're right, I'm sorry." He hated himself for leaving but he knew he had to. "Stairwell you said?"

Batman nodded and together the two left the apartment and straight to the emergency stairwell. Neither needed to use the stairs as they both jumped the rail and fell down the center opening. They landed silently on the basement floor and Aré once again reached out for his brother's presence. He motioned to Batman the direction they needed to go.

The hum of a machine drew their attention and also confirmed their fears. It was complete. They headed in the direction of the hum and when they entered the room they were met by Nakumaru and the others. Derek Powers stood with his hand still in the machine and Batman was surprised by the fact he looked the way he had before his "accident." The others stood near the vortex the machine had created. "I am so glad you could join us Brother." Nakumaru said.

"Naku, stop the machine. Now." Aré demanded.

"As you know I cannot do that." He took a step backwards. "Mother said you would try and stop me. She has already taken steps to make sure I succeed."

That was when Aré realized Sora was not one of the people in the room. "She's already gone back."

"Very good. You see, you are smarter than Mother gives you credit for."

"Naku please."

"Give me a break." Shriek said, aiming one of his sonic devices at Aré and Batman.

The two jumped to the side to avoid the blast. Both Naku and Aré covered their ears due to the high pitch of the sonic device. "I told you never to use that devise in my presence!" Naku yelled at Shriek.

"Allow me." Inque said, changing her arm into a long sharp blade.

"No," said Naku, "all of you enter the vortex unless you wish to remain here."

"Sorry but we can't allow you to do that." Batman said, pulling out a Batarang and throwing it at the machine. It hit the control panel causing sparks to fly.

"No!" Naku and Aré cried. The pitch of the machine changed, rising higher and higher.

"Go now!" Naku ordered the others.

Aré went for Naku while Batman went for Powers, who was closest to the machine. Neither made their targets as the machine decided that moment to explode.

* * *

Terry's vid-link suddenly becoming white static had Bruce standing and yelling at the screen. "Terry! Aré!" He keyed various commands trying to re-establish the link. Nothing he did worked.

"Bruce we have a problem." Dick said, entering the cave.

"I know." Bruce replied. He was becoming frustrated with his inability to bring back the link.

"I don't think you understand. I called Barbara after Mai called to give her a tip of where to look. I was still on the phone with her when she got there and… Bruce there was an explosion in the basement of the west tower." Bruce turned away from the monitors. "It took out half the basement. If anyone was in there… All they can do now is to locate the bodies."

Bruce sat, moving as if in slow motion. "Aré, Terry, Naku…" His expression suddenly hardened. "No, I won't believe it until I see them with my own eyes. Tell Barbara Kane is on the top level apartment of the tower. Have her bring him here."

Dick began to say something but stopped himself. If there was one thing he knew about Bruce it was that he didn't handle loss well. "I'll tell her." Dick left the cave to allow Bruce a few minutes to himself and did as he was asked.

Bruce turned back to the computer and the static that continued on the monitor. He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. _Please don't be dead._ He prayed. _Please God, don't let them be dead._

* * *

It felt as if every bone in his body had been crushed. He'd been in pain before but not like this. When he opened his eyes he saw stars and thought for a moment the blow to his head had caused them until he realized those really were stars he was looking at. He let out a moan, drawing the attention of the other man.

"Easy Terry." Aré said, moving to lean over him. "You took a nasty blow to the head."

"What happened?" Terry noticed Aré was covered in soot and parts of his hair and face were covered in red.

"The machine exploded. We're lucky to be alive."

"Where are we?"

"That's another problem. We're not quite in Kansas anymore."

"We weren't in Kansas." Terry said, obviously not understanding the Wizard of OZ reference.

"Sorry, it's not really a matter of where. More like a matter of when."

"What are you talking about?" Terry struggled to sit up. His head spun for a moment. "What do you mean by 'when'?"

"We're still in Gotham." Aré said. He reached over and picked up what looked to be an old fashioned news paper. "But not the one you're used to."

Terry looked at where Aré was pointing and his eyes widened in surprise. The year on the paper was 2005.


	3. Two: 2005

**A/N: **Don't worry I haven't abandoned the story. Life and other projects (Creative writing and Novel Writing classes) have gotten in the way. It's not very long but here is chapter 2. Enjoy.

**Chapter 2: 2005**

Terry snatched the paper from Aré's grasp and read the date over and over again. "How…?"

"The machine worked," Aré said. "We need to get you something else to wear. You can't go around the city wearing that." Aré stood and wiped some blood from his face. "Especially since B hasn't yet gotten all of the technology to build it." He helped Terry to stand.

Terry took a moment to take in his surroundings. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. They left the rooftop they were on and moved into the shadowed alleyways. He followed Aré as they made their way further into the city. There were certain structures which he recognized from when he had been in Old Town. "Where are we going?"

"To my apartment," Aré replied. "I used to own the top floor of the Wayne Condos."

"I didn't know Bru… Da…" Terry stopped. "What do I call him?"

"Whatever you want," He got Terry to keep going. "And he did, or does. Time travel sucks. The good thing is there are secret passages in the building. We can get in without being seen. We just have to get there first."

Making their way across the city they eventually went underground and Aré seemed to know exactly where he was going. Which was more than Terry could say. He'd been lost since they left the rooftop.

They ended up in the basement of the building and Aré led Terry over to a secret entrance. "We're here," he announced. "We simply need to go up." They entered the elevator and when it reached the top opened into the apartment Aré had told Terry about."

"You lived here?" Terry asked, looking around.

"Live, we're present tense now. Come on, let's get cleaned up. Clothes might be a problem though."

"Why?"

"My clothes are a bit too big for you."

Movement within the apartment not caused by them caught their attention. A light came in the living room came on. Terry tensed until he realized who it was that turned on the light then he was just shocked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were headed over to…" Mai's voice trailed off once she had gotten a good look at them. "What happened?" She saw Terry and while she didn't recognize him she did recognize the symbol on his chest.

Terry was still trying to wrap his head around who he was seeing. The Mai he knew was his age but the one before him now had to be around thirty.

Aré on the other hand, in all of the current chaos, forgot about he and Mai living together. While it was too late he briefly wondered if bringing Terry here was a bad idea. "Something's happened."

"I can see that." Mai came over and checked to see for herself how hurt Aré was. "You look like you tired to blow yourself up."

"Mai listen to me." He cupped her face in his hands to get her full attention. "Me and the boy; we've come back."

"Back from where?"

Aré sighed, "When."

"When?" Mai realized what he meant. "But, you said you would never…"

"I didn't do this. I didn't bring us here."

"Let's get you two cleaned up then." She moved from his grasp and led them back to the bathroom. "Should I call—"

"No," Aré said. "I've already messed up as it is. With all that was going on I forgot you would be here. You can't tell anyone what's happened."

"Okay, I won't. You know more about this anyway." She pulled out a First Aid kit, more for her benefit than anything else, and started to rummage through it for what she needed. "Do you have a name?" She asked Terry.

"Terry." He replied and flinched when Mai placed a wet cloth against his head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. It's just a shame it wasn't under better circumstances."

"The first time we met wasn't like this."

"I don't believe we've met before. I'm sure I would have remembered."

"Different time Terry. You're thinking about meeting years from now," Aré said.

"This is too confusing and my head hurts enough as it is."

"We have to be careful. I'm not entirely worried about me but we're going to have to be very careful where you're concerned. You can't tell anyone who you are or where you come from. More especially no one can know about this." He pinched some of the fabric of Terry's suit between his fingers.

"What about you? Don't we have to worry about running into another you?"

"No, but it's a bit complicated to explain why there isn't. We'll just leave it that my consciousness came back to the body I have here now."

"If that's the case then why are you wearing that and bleeding?"

"I'm not bleeding anymore and I told you it was complicated."

Terry sat as still as possible while Mai cleaned and bandaged his wounds. When she was done she tossed the used supplies in the trash then looked Terry over from top to bottom. "For tonight you are just going to have to suffer through wearing a set of Aré's clothes. In the morning I will go to the store and purchase something a little more fitting."

"Good idea. I'll set up the guest bedroom for him to have right now. We're experiencing a little bit of jet lag. Or would it be time lag? It was barely the afternoon when this happened," Aré said.

"You are the time travel expert," Mai said. "You tell me."

"If it's all right with you I think I'm going to lie down," Terry said. His head was still killing him and his vision was beginning to blur.

Aré quickly helped to move Terry into a lying position. "I think you may have a concussion," he said. "I hate to break this to you, but you are not allowed to sleep for twelve hours or so." He turned to Mai. "You go back to bed. I'll help the kid into the guest bedroom and watch over him."

"If things aren't looking better in the morning you are taking him to a hospital."

As dangerous as it was he knew she was right. If Terry's head injury was more serious than a minor concussion Aré wouldn't be able to do anything to help the boy. "Okay," he agreed. Aré picked Terry up, much to the boy's protest, and carried him into the guest bedroom. It was easier than trying to have Terry walk there. He lay Terry on the bed and saw the boy's eyes had closed. "Terry."

Terry's eyes opened quickly, "what?"

"No sleeping," Aré sat down beside him. He cracked his neck and prepared himself for the long night ahead of him. He knew he would have to face the more serious issues soon and as much as he really needed to Aré did _not_ want to think about them right now.

True to his word Aré had kept Terry up for the remainder of the night. By morning Terry was absolutely exhausted. It wasn't until around ten a.m. that Terry was finally allowed to fall asleep. He didn't wake up until the evening. His head was sore but it didn't hurt like it had earlier. He carefully left the bed and made his way out to the living area. When he had first woken up he had thought maybe everything had been just a dream. It wasn't until he was fully awake did he realize he really had been thrown into the past. It was so strange to see things which for him were considered "old fashioned."

"I wasn't exactly sure of your size so I only got two outfits. Tomorrow we'll go out and get you a new wardrobe." Aré gestured to the gab with Terry's new clothes. "How's your head?"

"Better than it was last night." Terry picked up the bag and examined the contents. He was pleased to see that the clothes were in fact in his size. "I still have a bit of a headache though."

"It will pass. I'm sure you're hungry by now. Want something to eat?"

Terry's stomach answered for him by grumbling loudly. He followed Aré into the kitchen and sat at the island while Aré fixed him something. "Where's Mai?"

"At work," Aré replied. He decided to go with something simple and made both of them a grilled cheese sandwich.

"Thanks," Terry said once the sandwich was placed in front of him and proceeded to eat it.

Aré sat down across from him. "I've been thinking. We don't know where Naku and his merry band have ended up. Which means we can't simply turn around and go back to where we came from."

"Could we go back to before they started the time machine?" Terry asked between bites.

Aré shook his head. "Technically we'd be going forward, but that's beside the point. Even if we could we couldn't leave until after we know we weren't going back alone." He picked the crust off part of his own sandwich and popped it into his mouth.

Realization dawned on Terry. "You can't send us back."

"No, I can't." Aré said with a sigh. "I've been trying, but for some reason I'm being blocked. I keep getting those weird feelings. For some reason I think we arrived first even though we were the last through the portal."

"How is that possible?"

"I think I may have had something to do with that. I'm not sure though." Once they had finished eating Aré cleared their plates. "I have to go out. I need to create an identity for you while we're here since I have absolutely no idea how long this is going to be. I want you to stay here until I get back. We may be in Gotham but it's not a Gotham you're used to."

"Fine, it's not like I have any place I need to be."

"I shouldn't be long. There's a number on the counter you can use if you need to get a hold of me. You need to know that here I go by the name Taji Marin. You can't call me Aré." As he pulled on a coat Terry watched as Aré's hair became strawberry blonde and his eyes green. "I'll be back as soon as possible. If the phone rings let the answering machine answer it before you pick it up."

"Sure, no going out and no talking to anyone." Terry left the table and picked up the bag of clothes. "I'll find some way to occupy myself."

"Good, I won't be long." With that Aré slipped out of his hidden passage.

Now that Terry was alone in the apartment he decided he desperately needed a shower. He found the bathroom and while the hot water ran over him he allowed his mind to go over the events of the previous twenty four hours. _Has it really been twenty four hours?_ He wondered. Time travel was confusing and it made his head hurt. Once he was done with his shower he dressed and realized there was no new foot ware for him. Even though he'd told Aré he would stay in Terry had no intention of doing so.

He used the boots from his uniform and tucked them under the legs of his Levi's. He grabbed the numbers Aré had left for him just in case he needed them before leaving the same way he had come the night before.

* * *

The motorcycle sped up the long tree lined road leading to the drive of Wayne Manor. Aré was still unsure about what he was going to do. He couldn't exactly tell Bruce that he had traveled back in time. _Oh and by the way, that kid who's with me, he's your son._ Yeah right, that needed to be kept under wraps at all costs. The driveway came into view and he sped up it, the gates opening as he approached.

Aré parked his bike in front of the manor and dismounted. As he made his way into the manor he wondered how he was going to explain his presence here. He was supposed to be heading towards Gaia. He could always lie; it wasn't like he hadn't done so before.

He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was to have Alfred greet him as soon as he entered the manor.

"Master Aré?"

"Don't call me 'Master!'" It was then Aré realized Alfred had been talking to him for a while. Alfred only called him Master when he was trying to get his attention. "I'm sorry Alfred, I zoned out. It was a long night."

"Should you not be in Gaia by now?" Alfred asked as the two moved further into the manor.

It had taken all of Aré's strength not to pull Alfred into an embrace. It had been so long since he had seen him. "I changed my mind." Not that he could remember exactly what he was supposed to go for in the first place.

"Well if you have come to see Master Bruce I am afraid he is not here right now."

"That's fine. Actually the reason I'm here is because I need to hijack his computer."

Alfred nodded, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Aré replied as he headed for the cave. "Why do you ask?"

Now Alfred was the one to shake his head. "You just seem distracted."

"I'm fine Alfred, really." Aré hoped he sounded convincing. He allowed a little fatigue to filter into his voice. "It was a really long night."

"Very well, if you should need anything do not hesitate to ask."

"I won't. Thanks Alfred." While Alfred returned to his work Aré went into the cave and sat at the computer. It didn't take him long to create a new identity for Terry. There was a lot he was going to have to teach Terry. The boy was smart, no doubts there, but he couldn't accidently let slip his knowledge of the future.

He turned back towards the computer and pulled up a word document. He may not be able to return them to the future, but he may be able to send a message. Once he was done he saved and coded the message so it could not be opened or modified until the date of their disappearance. Hopefully if the future he remembered was still there Bruce would get the message and know they were all right.

Terry wandered the streets of Gotham City and doing his best to hide his awe. He'd seen what the city had looked like during this time during his history class, but to actually _be_ here was something else entirely. For the longest time Terry simply wandered the city. While it was different from the city he had grown up in there were still some areas he seemed to instinctively know how to go to.

It wasn't until he was standing across from the Wayne Enterprises building that he realized he had been purposefully coming here. The building looked different and simply watched people move about. With no watch he only had the sun to rely on for the passage of time.

When the sun had finally begun to set Terry's stomach began to voice its desire for food. Terry figured he should head back to the apartment since he had no credits on him. Just as he stood to leave a long black limousine pulled up to the front of the building. The driver got out and Terry could have sworn he recognized the man even though he knew he'd never met him.

Without thinking Terry found himself crossing the street to get a better look at the man. He wore a black suit with a coat over it and a hat atop his head. The hat didn't entirely cover the few wisps of white hair that refused to stay hidden. Terry was so engrossed in trying to figure out where he'd seen him before that he didn't watch where he was going. It wasn't until he nearly knocked himself and someone else over that he was pulled back to the present.

"Maybe you should pay less attention to the car and more on where you're going."

Terry froze, he knew that voice. Slowly, he turned to face the man he'd run into and felt the blood slowly drain from his face. _"DAD!"_ Terry's eyes widened even more. Oh God, did he just say that out loud? "Sorry," his voice sounded strange to his ears.

"Are you all right?" A very concerned, very _young_ looking Bruce Wayne asked.

"Fine, um, sorry. Excuse me." Terry then fled without so much as a backward glance. If he'd stayed close enough he would have seen the look exchanged by Bruce and Alfred and also heard the comment by Alfred at how much alike he and Bruce looked.


	4. Three: The Man in Black

_**Three: The Man in Black**_

"Master Aré stopped by the manor this afternoon." Alfred said as he drove Bruce to his dinner meeting with one of the Goth Corp executives.

"Really?" Bruce asked, surprised. "I thought he had to the island."

"He told me he decided not to go. Though I had thought he was mandated to return."

"He was. A meeting with the Royal Houses... He was supposed to leave yesterday."

"Something may be wrong Master Bruce. He did not seem to be himself. Now that I think back on it I don't believe he remembered why he was supposed to go."

"It is unlike him to forget something that important. Do you think the nightmares have returned?"

"Those could possibly explain his demeanor. I'll stop by to check on him after my meeting."

A smile tugged at Alfred's lips. "He is not going to appreciate your checking on him as if he is a child."

"True, but if you're right and his nightmares have come back leaving him alone to work through them himself would do more harm than good." Neither of them had forgotten the effect nightmares and insomnia had had on Aré a few years back.

"A very good point sir. The world cannot handle having both of you brooding all the time."

If Alfred hadn't been driving Bruce would have thrown something at him.

* * *

Terry thanked every deity he could think of that he could return to the apartment before anyone else. The whole way back his mind had buzzed and he could still hardly believe he had literally run into Bruce. He was so young and if Terry did his math right then Bruce wasn't even forty yet.

Terry moved over to the couch in the living area and sat. Even now he couldn't get the image of Bruce he had seen out of his head. While he knew they were the same person they were also very different. The Bruce Wayne he knew was a very closed off and very lonely man. His eyes did not hold the spark his younger self had held. He may have only seen this times version of Bruce for a minute or two but it was enough for him to notice the difference in their eyes.

Once again Terry found himself confused. While he had only known that Bruce was his father for a few days, at most, there was a strong part of him who wanted to embrace that fact. He now had something that no other human being did, the chance to know a parent before they themselves had been born. And while he knew this was going to be a very bad idea he wanted to get to know this Bruce.

Getting up he went to the kitchen to find something to eat. After eating he went and donned his suit, left a note for Aré saying he wanted to explore, and left the apartment again. Aré was probably going to kill him later, but Terry would jump off that rooftop when he came to it.

* * *

Aré returned to the apartment much later than he had anticipated. Mai's work had taken her across country and she would be gone for the next couple of days leaving Aré and Terry alone in the apartment. Speaking of the teenager, Aré wondered why there weren't any lights on in the apartment. "Terry?" he called out and received no reply.

Switching the lights on and beginning to look around, Aré had a feeling Terry had left. This was confirmed when he found the note. "Damnit boy," he growled. Now he'd have to find the kid before he got into trouble. Grumbling to himself he never even noticed when a form landed on the outdoor balcony and entered the apartment. Aré nearly jumped out of his skin when he finally noticed the figure. "Gods B, give me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Batman moved further into the living area. "I just came by to check on you."

"What for?" Aré fell onto the couch in a way that made him bounce. Now he seriously hoped the kid would stay away long enough for Batman to leave. He felt a pang of sadness at seeing how different this man was from who he would be fifty years from now.

"Alfred said you stopped by the manor."

"I did, what's your point?"

"You are supposed to be in Gaia by now."

"I decided not go to."

"I didn't know you were allowed to skip a meeting with the Royal Houses."

All color left Aré's face. Crap, he _was_ supposed to go to that.

Batman moved until he was standing in front of Aré. "You forgot."

"I…" Was there really any point in denying it? "I've had a lot on my mind lately. The reason I had to go slipped my mind. That's the whole reason you're here? Because I forgot about the meeting?"

"It isn't like you to forget something like this."

"Something else came up."

"What?"

Aré had to get Batman out of the apartment fast. If he kept prying like this Aré might accidently let something slip. He couldn't risk it. "Aren't you supposed to be doing your patrol?"

"I thought it best to check on you first."

Aré's expression became angry. "I'm not a child Bruce so quit trying to treat me like one. This wouldn't be the first time my father had to—" He hadn't thought about it until now. His father wouldn't be missing in this time. Kane would be free and healthy and Aré would actually be able to see him.

"Had to…" Batman prompted.

"Go find something to beat on. I'm sure Jack will find a way to get out of jail again if he hasn't already."

"Not until you tell me what's going on with you."

Aré stood, "Get out!" His eyes and the mark on his forehead glowed for a second before returning to normal. Aré was glad when Batman took the hint and left.

Aré let out a frustrated groan and fell to lay face down on the couch. He seriously _hated_ time travel.

* * *

Terry knew Aré was going to kill him when he returned to the apartment but couldn't bring himself to care. He glided over Gotham, camouflage on of course, taking in the city and the differences between this version and the one he grew up in.

It seemed Gotham was always dirty in some way. Maybe he was just in the lower class end of the city. Cars parked on the side of the streets, some working and others obviously not. Trash on the sidewalks. It seemed that no matter the time some things never changed.

Terry continued on through the city quickly firing his boosters if needed and eventually found himself moving towards the inner city. He spotted a building which he remembered seeing in Old Town. He quietly landed on the rooftop and looked over the edge. In his time Shriek had destroyed the building. There was no mistaking the light which sat near the center of the roof. He, himself, would destroy it fifty years from now. _If we ever get back, _he thought.

From his vantage point Terry was able to see the large clock on the Town Hall building. It read: 11:34. Terry figured now would probably be a good time to go back to the apartment and face the music. Now, if only he could remember which direction to go.

* * *

After leaving Aré's apartment Batman continued on is patrol. He could not, however, keep his mind off his meeting with the older man. Aré was hiding something, that much he knew for certain. He was determined to figure out what the problem was.

He silently leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Activity within the city was slow. He'd only had one or two encounters with the criminal element. This was fine by him as it gave him time to think.

A scream from the street below caught his attention. He quickly located the source and made his way to ground level. When he made it to the source what he saw gave him pause.

The perp was already unconscious and being tied up with a bola which was not his own, but looked like it could have been his. The woman from whom the scream had come from was gazing wide eyed at the figure securing the perp.

Batman had only seen that particular style suit one time before, the time he, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman chased after the man from the future. Only he and John had any memories of that time.

Batman caught the look of surprise on the other man's face once he was spotted.

"Oh man, I am _so_ dead," the other Batman said.

The woman quickly gathered her purse and ran from the alley. This action barely registered with either Batman.

"How did you get here?" Batman asked.

"Would you believe me if I said I have no idea?"

Batman's eyebrow rose though he knew the other man-boy?-couldn't see it.

"I'm going to go now," the other man gave a wave and smile, "bye."

Before Batman could react the other man leapt into the air and fired his boosters. Batman quickly pulled out a grapple gun and aimed it at the other man's feet. He fired and the end wrapped around the man's ankles. He gave a startled, "Hey!" before being pulled back down to the ground. At the angle which he came down he was able to reach out and grab the ledge of the rooftop. He let out a grunt as he connected with the side of the building.

The boy, for Batman could tell that's what he was, held onto the ledge. The boy let go with one arm and used the scallops attached to his gauntlet to cut through the grapple line, then hauled himself onto the rooftop. Poking his head over the ledge he said, "I'd love to stay and chat but I really have to go." He then took off.

Batman raced to the rooftop but by the time he got there the boy was gone. _I really should have learned his name the first time we met._ He briefly recalled the boy's scream during his journey with John. _At least he's not dead._

The boy was from at least fifty years in the future. Aré would have sensed his travel through time. He decided to head back and get some answers.


	5. Four: Secrets

_**Four: Secrets**_

Terry snuck back into the apartment as quietly as he could, but was obviously not quiet enough if Aré was there to meet him.

"Where have you been?" Aré demanded.

"I wanted to explore the city." Terry said, removing the cowl and heading to change.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? We cannot afford to make any mistakes. I've already messed up myself. Gods only know what would happen if your presence were to become known."

Terry stopped midway down the hall and turned back to face Aré. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not even supposed to be in the city right now. I'm supposed to be heading for a meeting with the Royal Houses."

"Then go."

"And leave you here alone. I don't bloody think so."

Terry gave an exasperated sigh. "Then what do you want to do? Just wait around until something happens? I can't hide here forever."

"I know you can't." Aré picked up the things he had brought back from the cave. "You can, however, keep a low profile. A _very_ low profile." He handed the manila envelope to Terry. "Which means for the time being you lose the suit."

"Fine," Terry opened the envelope and read it as he walked, "Terrence Friedle?"

"Were you expecting it to be Wayne? It was one of the first names the computer came up with that didn't sound completely stupid. Look, go get changed. I've got to correct as much of my mistake as I can right now." The last part he said mostly to himself.

Terry continued on into his room to change. After changing he sat on the bed and finished reading the contents of the envelope Aré had given him. According to this he was given up for adoption as an infant but had never been adopted. He'd gone completely through the system and had been granted emancipation from the state when he'd turned seventeen, which according to this had only been a couple of days ago. He had apparently just been hired by Taji Marin as an assistant.

_That's convenient_, he thought. He was so caught up in his reading his new file that he missed the first time Aré knocked on his door. The second knock caught his attention though and he looked towards the door. "Yeah?"

The door opened and Aré entered, "Oh good you've changed. I know you don't have much here but pack what you do have."

"Why?"

"Because we're not staying here. I told you that I have to fix as much of my mistake as I can right now. And that involves going to the meeting of the Royal Houses, as much as I hate the idea of having to do so."

"We're just going to act as if nothing's happened?" Terry asked, incredulous.

"For the moment that's the best we can do. Minimize the fallout of what we've done. As far as I can sense we are the first to arrive. I don't know how far ahead of the others we've arrived so for now we're just going to play along with the times. You and I will prepare ourselves. Look at it this way, we go to this meeting we'll be more likely to be near Sora and Nakumaru should they arrive from the future timeline."

Terry's eyebrows came together in confusion. "Why's that?"

"Sora married into the Royal Family and Nakumaru will be there by right of birth. They may not be able to participate in the meeting but they will be there. If memory serves this meeting takes place at my father's palace."

Terry hated to remind Aré about unhappy things but, "Isn't your father under some kind of spell?"

"Not at present." From the look which had flitted over Aré's face Terry knew he had hit a nerve. "In our time my father had been under Sora's spell for just over twenty years which means in this time he's perfectly fine."

"Makes sense I guess," Terry threw his few meager belongings into a small bag. "How long is this going to take?"

"A couple of days I think. To be honest I didn't really pay much attention the first time around."

"That bad?" Terry finished packing and secured the bag. "So how do we get there?"

"That's the easy part."

Aré reached out and grabbed Terry's arm. There was a flash of white light, then nothing.

* * *

Awareness returned to Terry and when he opened his eyes he saw that they were no longer in Aré's apartment. Instead they stood outside of a large manor. Dark wood made up the exterior walls and two cherry blossom trees stood out front, in full bloom. The front lawn was meticulously well kept. The long driveway was covered in a fine stone which crunched underneath them as they walked. The sun shone down and the weather outside was _perfect_ for the beach.

Terry couldn't contain his awe at the sight. "Wow," he spun in a slow circle to try to take everything in, "this place is amazing. Where are we exactly?"

"The place where I was born," replied Aré.

"I kind of figured that… Wait, you were born in a mansion? I thought you were born in a castle."

Aré began walking towards the manor. "No, I was born in this house. It belonged to my mother before she died. I was raised here. Even after I decided to leave Gaia I never got rid of the manor. Even now this place still feels like home."

"Is this where you lived when you had to come back here in the past…? Future…? What do we call where we come from?"

"Gotham. The problem now isn't where but when." They entered the manor and Terry continued to be awed. The interior was just as impressive as the exterior, with dark woods and beautiful hardwoods, large rooms with high ceilings and filled with elegant furniture.

Terry could not help but be impressed. "This really is circa a _long_ time ago." That statement earned Terry a smack on the back of his head. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked Aré rubbing the area Aré had hit.

"For making me feel old." Aré replied. "It isn't 'circa a long time ago' you'd be surprised how much of this stuff is more recent. It's just that here a lot of the styles haven't changed. These are just the styles our culture uses. We've never had any reason to change them."

"It works," Terry appreciated the unique design. It was a strange mix of medieval and Victorian architecture.

Terry heard footsteps moving towards them and moved his gaze away from looking at the interior design of the manor to the direction the footsteps were coming from. It was a young woman, dark hair, dark skin, and Terry took a guess that she was human.

"Majesty," the woman curtsied, "it is wonderful to have you back home."

"It's nice to be here Katelyn," Aré replied then gestured to Terry. "Katelyn this is Terrance Friedle and he is going to be a guest here until my business at the castle is concluded."

"I shall send someone to gather your things," Katelyn said to Terry.

"Oh, that's okay," he held up the backpack he carried, "everything I brought with me is right here."

"Then I shall have a room prepared." To Aré she asked, "Shall I have a meal made ready?"

"If Mr. Friedle would like anything then feel free but I have to get going to the palace. I'm late enough as it is." Aré replied.

"Very well, I bid you good day your Majesty." Katelyn turned her attention to Terry, "If you will come with me I will show you to your rooms."

"Rooms?" Terry followed and was led to what looked like a suite. There was a _huge_ bed on the left side of the room, a desk made of a very dark wood on the opposite side with what looked like a dresser built into the wall beside a closet. He set his bag down on the bed and walked into the adjoining room. What he found was probably one of the most luxurious bathrooms he'd ever seen. While it had all of the basics he'd never seen a bathtub that big built into the floor. _That thing could hold five people_, he thought, _with room to spare._

"I take it you approve."

"Huh?" Terry turned back to his guide. "Oh yeah." He went back out into the bedroom.

"Would you care for a meal?"

Terry thought about it. "No but thank you. It was night where we just came from. I guess I'm experiencing jet lag."

"I suppose that is to be expected," Katelyn stood at the entrance to the rooms. "Unless there is more you require of me I believe I shall let you retire."

"Thank you." Once alone Terry moved over to the bed and flopped down on his back and looked at the cream colored ceiling. The mattress was much softer than he thought it would be. He settled back with a sigh. Not realizing just how exhausted he was, Terry was asleep within minutes.

* * *

Batman returned to Aré's apartment to find it dark and empty. He muttered a silent curse knowing he would have to wait until Aré returned from Gaia before he would be able to talk to him. He moved to the balcony he had entered from and looked out over the city. Though he had tried he was unable to vanquish the thoughts of the boy he had seen earlier in the night. The costume he wore, Batman knew he would one day create the suit the boy had on. But_… Who is he? Why is he here? _These were questions to which he had no answer.

Batman did not relish having to wait until Aré returned to have some of his questions answered. Surely the Halfling prince had sensed the boys travel through time. Batman knew for certain that the one with the other Batman suit had traveled through time; there was no other explanation for why he was here.

Another question was _how_ had the boy traveled back in time. When he and John had gone to the future the boy had said that they had been at least fifty years into their future. While he knew many things would change in the next fifty years he doubted time travel for mortals would be one of them. The Fae controlled the laws of time travel and were very strict in how it was handled. The fallout of his and John's own trip through time left something to be desired. Though he would have to remember to ask Aré what happened to David Clinton, he very much doubted the Fae had kept him in the time loop that Batman had set his belt into.

Those were thoughts for another time though; right now he had other things to concentrate on. He knew for a fact that the other Batman couldn't be allowed to roam free within the city. Things would have to be done to keep the boy from altering the future, not that Batman believed that his future was already planned out for him with no chance of changing it.

Batman thought back to the conversation he'd had with Aré a few hours earlier. Aré had been acting strange, agitated. _He knew something._ Batman could have kicked himself. Of course Aré knew something, did he not just think that Aré would have sensed the boy's travel through time. Now he _really_ wanted to talk to his uncle.

_I just have to wait until he gets back. _Contrary to popular belief Batman was not a patient man. Oh sure, he was able to stay still and wait when he had to but that didn't mean he liked it. With a barely perceptible sigh Batman turned and locked the doors leading to the balcony he was on before stepping onto the railing and disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

"You are late."

Aré stopped at the sound of the female's voice and could not stop the wide smile which crossed his face. "Izumi," he ran over and embraced his younger sister. "It has been too long."

"Yes, it has." She pulled away slightly, "The meeting has already begun." A quick glance at his attire had her frowning, "You can't expect to attend wearing _that_?"

Aré quickly glanced at his attire. "I didn't have time to change. As you said," he headed down the hallway she had just come from, "I'm late."

Aré ran silently down the hallway and stopped before the ornate doors leading to the Council chamber where the meeting was taking place. He took a breath to steady himself then entered the chamber.

Voices became silent and all thirteen heads turned in his direction. He felt color rising into his cheeks. "My apologizes," he made his way over to the chair on his father's right and sat, "I was sidetracked and lost track of time."

"And yet we are so glad you saw fit to join us." Spoke one of the Council members on his right, Nigel.

Out of the corner of his eye Aré saw his father glare at Nigel. "If we may continue?" Kane said.

"Does the prince wish to take the time to change into something more appropriate for the occasion?" asked the king from the southern part of the island.

Aré was now acutely aware of how different his attire was from everyone else in the room. While the others were dressed in their finest Aré had nothing more than faded blue jeans, a black t-shirt with "Billabong" written across the back and sneakers. He forced a smile, "I'm fine, I wouldn't want to hold this meeting up any more than I already have."

"Gentlemen," Kane's voice demanded attention, "and ladies," a nod to the two princesses accompanying their fathers, "let us return to the task at hand."

Nigel began the conversation, "Yes, now, the reason we have all been called here to this meeting. The mortals outside of this island and their blatant excursions through time. There are laws about traveling through time. The mortals should be held accountable for breaking those laws."

Aré was surprised by the topic of conversation. He didn't remember this being the reason for the meeting the first time around. "Laws they do not know exist."

"And this ignorance of our laws gives them free reign to alter a preset timeline?" the princess from the north, a human, asked.

"No, but how can they possibly follow a law they know nothing about?"

"I suggest we remove those who break the laws," the king from the north said.

Kane shook his head, "Those outside of the island would begin to ask questions should people begin to randomly disappear for no reason at all," he said.

"There are those who know of magic and know the rules governing it. Which in turn gives them knowledge of our laws on time travel," Nigel pointed out.

"Their magic and ours are different," Aré reminded them. "While their magic requires spells and a trade ours does not. Different magic, different rules."

Others began to enter the conversation, pointing out all of the ways mortals had broken their laws and had yet to answer for breaking those laws. Their voices began to steadily rise while Kane and Aré watched silently. Nigel's voice suddenly rose above all the rest, "And yet we alone rule over time travel!"

"No, not 'we,'" Kane's voice silenced all the others, "only Aré and I govern time travel. No others."

"With all due respect your Majesty, the Halfling has already allowed two violators to remain unpunished for breaking our laws. Both of whom know full well our laws on the subject."

Aré flinched slightly and Kane's eyes narrowed, his voice becoming hard, "You will address my son by his proper title and in no other way. I will not allow such disrespect for a member of my house. And in case you are unable to recall, the circumstances which forced Batman and Green Lantern to travel through time were enough to warrant that travel."

"And what of this latest offence? I am sure you have felt it just as we have. Do you plan on letting these violators go free as well?"

Aré should have known his and Terry's trip from the future wouldn't go unnoticed even if he had hoped it would. It was a small comfort to know no one would be able to sense that he was one of the ones to come back. A small comfort but a comfort none the less. Bringing Terry here may not have been the best idea but what other choice did he have?

Kane stood breaking into Aré's thoughts, "I believe a slight recess is in order." A hand on Aré's shoulder and he too stood and followed his father from the chamber.

The two were silent as they made their way through the halls before coming to the rooms Aré used when he had to stay at the palace. "You must be tired," Kane said once they were safely inside the rooms. "It's night in Gotham right now, isn't it?"

Aré nodded yet remained silent. The meeting had gone on for a couple of hours already and Aré was beginning to feel fatigue. He had his back to his father and was looking out the far window to the valley below.

Kane moved forward, his voice concerned as he asked, "Are you all right?"

Aré spun quickly and embraced his father. Ever since coming here, no matter how hard he tried and even with the meeting being a distraction he was unable to vanquish the image of his father in the glass coffin. He didn't want that image anymore; he only wanted the image of his father as he was now, free. "I've missed you papa."

"And I have missed you too," Kane returned the embrace. He pulled back just enough to look Aré in the face. "I know you like to sometimes be 'fashionably late' but you appeared to have something on your mind. What is bothering you?"

"I…" Oh what he wouldn't give to be able to tell his father everything, but he couldn't. He put his head back on his father's shoulder and held tighter. "I can't…"

"You're in trouble." Not a question.

"Not just me."

"What's happened? You can tell me."

They stayed like that in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. During that time Aré thought about the pros and cons of telling Kane what he knew. Being the only other person with the legitimate ability to travel time Kane was bound to find out sooner or later. He pulled back and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "I know who the latest travelers through time are."

Kane sat beside him, "Who?"

"A young boy from about fifty years in the future and myself."

Kane's eyes went wide with surprise. "Why would you do this? You know the dangers of moving through time."

"It wasn't intentional," Aré said defensively, "there was an explosion and the next thing we knew we were here."

"An explosion!"

Of course that would be the first thing Kane would pick up on, this caused Aré to smile slightly. "We're both fine by the way." He allowed himself to fall back until he was looking at the ceiling. "You are the only other person to know that we've come back. Mai learned when we returned to the apartment. I hadn't even been thinking, the boy and I; both our heads were still ringing from the explosion. No one else knows."

"Who is the boy?"

"He came with me. He's currently staying at mama's house. I've warned him of what would happen if knowledge of the future got out." He turned his head to look at Kane, "Papa, the boy and I, we got here early. We were trying to stop others from making use of a time machine." He turned his head away, "As you can tell, we failed. I have no way of knowing when the others will arrive."

"Do you know how many others there are? What their objective is?"

"I know they are coming back to try and kill Bruce," he gave a one sided shrug, "well Batman. I know that can't possibly be the only reason, there's more to it than that. As for how many," he paused to think, "at least five, maybe six others.

"When we first arrived in this time I was the first to wake up and managed to at least find out when we had ended up. Before the boy—"

"You can at least give me a first name Aré. You don't have to keep referring to your traveling companion as 'the boy.'"

"Fine, before _Terry_," there was a hint of exasperation in Aré's voice, "woke up I tried to send us back to the point before the machine was activated and stop this from happening." He sat up, "I can't go back. I don't know why but I can't move through time."

"What do you mean you can't move through time?"

"Well if I could do you think we would even be having this conversation?"

"No, I suppose we wouldn't." His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What could be keeping you from returning to the time you came from?"

Aré guessed the last part was Kane thinking out loud but he answered anyway, "I have no idea. All I know is that I'm being blocked. Could it be possible that I can't send us back until the others arrive in this time too?"

Kane shook his head at this, "That should have absolutely no effect on your magic. Until we can figure this out all we can do is try to prevent more damage from being done. For now though why don't you try and get some sleep. Perhaps the answers to your questions will come more easily once you've rested a bit."

Aré nodded in agreement, "Maybe," he removed his sneakers and crawled under the heavy blanket, "wake me when it's time to go listen to those idiots argue."

Kane chuckled, "I will, rest." Aré closed his eyes, Kane stayed with him until sleep claimed him.


	6. Five: A Lesson in Patience Or Not

_**Five: A Lesson in Patience… Or Not**_

Terry awoke to a most wonderful smell. He sat up and allowed the covers to fall back. At least this time he'd had the presence of mind to crawl _under_ the covers before falling asleep, unlike last time. Getting up and putting his boots back on he left his room and followed that wonderful scent. As he moved through the halls the scent led him to what appeared to be the kitchen. He walked inside and found Katelyn and another man cooking.

Katelyn turned to him with a smile, "Awake at last are you. Ready for that meal?"

Terry's stomach decided to answer for itself. "Guess I am," he said sheepishly.

"Dinner is almost ready. Just a few more minutes," she put what appeared to be mashed potatoes into a bowl, "unfortunately it does not appear as if his Majesty will be joining you tonight."

"That's all right," Terry replied, "we've been stuck with each other for a while. A little time apart would do us some good."

One of the male cook's eyebrows rose, "How long have you known his Majesty?"

"Not long," Terry picked a grape out of a nearby bowl and popped it in his mouth, "we met through a mutual acquaintance." Not the full truth but the acquaintance was real.

"It is unusual you would be brought into his confidence so quickly."

The man's gaze was beginning to make Terry uncomfortable. "It was an accident really. I don't have any family and I moved around too often to really make any friends." He shrugged, "who am I gonna tell?"

"So you are a _koji_."

"Koji?"

Katelyn huffed, "He obviously doesn't speak our language Garret." Looking back at Terry, "He means orphan."

"Oh, and you're right. I don't speak Japanese."

Katelyn laughed while Garret muttered something about, "outworlders."

"It is the same language however we don't call it that. Only the people of your world use that name for our language."

"I'm on another world?" Terry asked, incredulous.

Garret turned and leaned back against the counter. "Are you really that stupid?" With a roll of his eyes and what sounded like a long suffering sigh he continued, "Don't you know anything boy? Gaia _was_ another world a long time ago. Why do you think no one on your world is able to see it?"

"Because it's protected by magic. Aré told me—"

"His _Majesty_. What gives you the right to call him by his given name?"

"I—"

"Garret, enough!" Katelyn slammed her hand down hard enough on the table to echo through the room. "Master Friedle is a guest of his Majesty and is to be treated as such. Even if he is from the outside, that does not give _you_ the right to interrogate him."

Garret turned back to his cooking. He muttered something else Terry wasn't able to catch.

"Come, the dining table is this way," Katelyn motioned for Terry to follow her, which he did.

The dining hall Terry was led to was smaller than he expected. While it was large enough to hold his living room, twice, he expected something large enough to match the grandeur of the manor.

Katelyn pulled out his seat. "This is his Majesty's informal dining room."

"I can only imagine what the formal one looks like," Terry replied.

"Perhaps you will dine there sometime."

"Maybe," Terry took his seat. "If you don't mind my asking, what's Garret's problem?"

Katelyn moved to the seat across from him and sat. "Garret is over protective of his Majesty."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Garret is an only child and he is also a Halfling. He was found by his Majesty wandering the streets. Garret was only about five and no one ever knew what became of his parents. His Majesty raised Garret, gave him a home and, when he came of age, a place of employment. This was also a home where he could be cared for and loved."

"Well that explains his attitude at least. So this happened, what, twenty years ago?"

Katelyn laughed, "Try eighty."

Terry's eyebrows attempted to meet his hairline. "Why am I still surprised? I don't know if I'll ever get used to this not aging thing."

"Garret ages, just not as fast as you or I."

"Wait? You're not… You're not Fae?"

"No," Katelyn replied with a slight upturn of her lips. "However my family has worked here even before his Majesty was born." A bell sounded causing Katelyn to stand. "Dinner is ready. I will be back in just a moment." She left for the kitchen.

Terry was left alone and found himself feeling rather awkward. While he had gotten used to the size and luxury that was Wayne Manor, he'd never had anyone wait on him like this before. It made him feel rather uncomfortable but what was he going to do?

He shook his head and forced himself to think about something else. Instead he focused on his own personal dilemma. If they ever got back - _When, _he thought determinately, _not if, when! _– what was he going to do about his new relation to Bruce?

"Here we are," Katelyn placed a plate of food and a glass of juice on the table before him.

She had been so quiet Terry hadn't heard her come back in. "Are you sure you're not Fae?"

"Yes I am sure. Believe me, what is considered quiet for us can be loud to them. If you need anything more do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you." Once he took his first bite, Terry's silent contemplation was completely forgotten.

* * *

As promised Kane woke Aré up before the meeting reconvened. He had been woken early enough to change into something more formal and was currently admiring the wood spirals in the table before him. These men couldn't be any more long winded if they tried. The topic of conversation had continued to go around in circles and quite frankly he was getting tired of it. Finally he'd had enough.

"Would you all just _shut up!_"

The voices became suddenly silent and all heads turned to face him.

"Pardon me?" Nigel looked slightly shocked by the command.

"You heard me. All you people have been doing for _hours_ is bicker and complain about the use of time travel by a people who, for the most part, don't even know we exist. And while I do know a few of those time travelers personally I also know there was a very good reason for them doing what they did." Aré took a breath to keep himself from raising his voice. "Another thing, I am sick and tired of the way you speak of the Human race. In case you haven't noticed we have four people here who are Human and I carry Human blood myself. I find your comments quite insulting." He held up a hand to forestall any argument. "And until you can continue this conversation civilly instead of bickering like children, this meeting is ended."

With that Aré stood and left the conference room, leaving silence in his wake.

He walked down the halls, silently fuming. As if he didn't already have enough troubles as it was. His mood must have been reflected in his features because anyone he passed moved quickly out of his way and made no attempt to stop and speak with him. That was just fine by him, Aré really wasn't in the mood to talk with anybody anyway.

"Security must surely be lax if they will allow just anyone to enter here."

Aré stopped and turned his gaze towards the one who had just spoken. There was no hiding the contempt Sora's features were twisted into.

"I know," Aré made no attempt to hide his dislike of her, "I will have to be sure and remind them not to let you in anymore."

Sora laughed but it was not a pleasant sound. "Me? It is you they must remember to keep out. As for me, this is my home."

"It was mine first." While he had never really thought of the palace as _home_ he wasn't about to argue semantics.

"Ha, hardly, your home is with the dogs."

"And yet my father makes sure I have a room here. And, well, unlike you I am actually _welcome_ within these walls."

"You are about as welcome as a rat."

"You would know."

Sora bristled, "How dare you speak to me in such a manner? That is no way to speak to a queen."

"You are queen in title only," replied Aré, "You do not hold the true power of the position. I have more power than you will ever have. I was _born_ with more power than you. My authority outweighs yours."

The look of contempt on Sora's face turned into a sneer. "And yet it is I whom your father keeps close."

"Not by choice. My father wouldn't willingly keep a harlot as his consort."

Sora drew herself up, her expression changing again, this time she looked smug. "I would never have thought you would speak about your mother that way."

"You leave my mother out of this."

"I am not the one who brought her up. You speak of harlots and yet who was it who carried a bastard child?" Sora paused to think for a moment. "Oh yes, it was _your_ mother."

Aré felt his anger increase. "At least I was conceived out of love. Unlike Izumi and Nakumaru, who were only conceived out of duty." It was a sad fact, yet one whose truth could not be softened. "My father never has and never will hold an ounce of love for you. You, who holds nothing but contempt for this House and is only here because there was no choice. My father married you out of love but it was not love for you, it was love for me and his wanting to keep me safe."

"If that is what you believe then you truly are delusional. Kane sees you as a worthless obligation, he has told me so himself. He has told me how he wishes you had been killed as a newborn and what a mistake he made in consorting with the likes of such a mangy human. His deepest regret is the taint he brought onto this House. _He regrets you._"

_Lies!_ Aré's mind screamed, _what she's saying, it's all lies._ And yet a small part of him feared those words were the truth. He knew, _knew_, his father loved and cared for both him and his mother yet hearing Sora's words and having had them come from multiple sources was what kept that little shred of doubt from never disappearing.

He wasn't about to let Sora have the last word and he was determined to wipe that smug look from her face. "Say all you want Sora, but my father holds no regrets where my mother and I are concerned. No, his biggest regret is having been forced into marrying the succubus trying to steal his soul."

With that Aré turned and left the hallway, determined not to let Sora's words get to him. Unfortunately, the wounds had already cut deep.

* * *

The sun was slowly making its way towards the western horizon casting evening shadows across the front lawn of Aré's manor. After finishing his dinner Terry had gone outside to explore the grounds. The land the estate sat upon was large, larger than probably the land Wayne Manor sat upon, and equally as impressive. There were cherry blossom trees lining the rear and sides of the property. What was surprising to Terry was that they were still in full bloom. As far as he knew those trees only blossomed in April… ish… If he remembered correctly it was nearly the beginning of summer. The blossoms should have fallen by now.

Gravel crunching underfoot drew his attention down the long driveway. He watched as a man approached riding a brown horse. It wasn't until the rider stopped at the steps he was sitting on and dismounted that Terry recognized him. Terry's eyes went wide, "Holy crap."

Aré sent Terry a confused look. "What?" he asked.

Terry looked Aré up and down. Upon his brow was a circlet with a symbol he didn't recognize at the center. He had on what appeared to be a long cream colored coat which extended down well past Aré's knees, trimmed in a pale blue-green, the sleeves were trumpet shaped with vents going up to his elbow showing tight fitting light blue-green sleeves underneath which came to a point at the backs of his hands. The front was partially closed using what looked like a pair of Chinese buttons, at his waist an intricate belt of the same pale blue-green color. There was a sword in a dark scabbard attached to the belt.

Terry could barely make out the pale blue-green under-tunic, his gaze traveled downwards, taking in tight cream colored breeches which disappeared into knee high boots the same color as the under-tunic.

"What!" Aré asked again, agitation evident in his voice.

Terry snapped back to reality. "I… uh… I didn't recognize you in that. What are you _wearing_?"

Aré looked down at himself and groaned. "Jeans and a t-shirt wasn't exactly proper attire for the meeting. These are my 'royal robes'." He made air quotes as he said the last part. "These are what I wear whenever I have to be official."

"I knew you were a prince but those really make you look the part."

"Thanks," Aré sat beside Terry, "I think."

"No really, you look good." One shoulder lifted and fell in a shrug. "This is still really new to me. Everything that's happened recently, information overload you know? Knowing something and seeing it for yourself are two different things."

"I know what you mean." The horse Aré arrived on shook its head and pawed at the ground, causing both men to turn their attention to it. "I better put her in the stables." Aré stood and took the horse by the reigns, leading her back to the stables.

Terry followed, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. "So how did the meeting go?" He ventured to ask once they arrived.

"They're all morons." Aré griped, pulling the saddle and reigns off. "We sat there for _hours_ while they bickered and complained. Every one of them acted like children."

"Kind of scary since they're all older than you, right?"

"There were four people there," at Terry's look of confusion Aré elaborated. "Four Humans, the rest were Fae, other than them, yeah, they were all older than me." He led the horse to a feeding bucket then picked up a brush and began brushing her out. "You want to know what they bickered about. Time travel of all things."

Terry's eyes went wide with shock. _Do they know?_ Was his first thought. "Really?"

Aré nodded, "Yes, but they don't know anything. All they know is what they sensed, that someone has traveled though time recently." His voice lowered and Terry barely heard him say, "My father knows."

"What!" Terry exclaimed, "how?"

"I told him."

"You told him after you told me not to say anything. That if I did things could change drastically. I'm thinking universe ending paradoxes here and _you_ go and _tell_ your _father!_"

Aré stopped what he was doing and faced Terry fully. "I didn't have much of a choice. My father is the only one besides the gods and myself who has authority over time. He could sense it and he would have found out sooner or later. I decided sooner would be easier."

"He knows everything then?" He threw his hands up in the air, "great so when the world ends I'm blaming you."

Aré whorled around to face Terry, throwing the brush to the ground so hard it broke. "Be silent boy! I do not need you or anyone else telling me how much I have royally screwed things up. I have already been told that on more than one occasion! Believe me; I know _exactly_ the ramifications of what I have done. I do _not_ need a reminder."

Terry took a step back. Aré's outburst had caused his eyes to flash white for a moment and his clothing to flutter in a nonexistent wind. He held his hands up, palms out. "Sorry. What's got you so riled up?" Whatever had him so angry had more to do than what Terry had just said.

Aré took a calming breath and bent to pick up the pieces of the brush. "I ran into Sora while I was at the palace."

"She's here?" Terry didn't like the sound of that. "They made it here before we did? If others can sense the time travel then she must know we're here too. She would have to," Terry began to pace the short distance along the isle in the stables; "we have to move fast then. Find Inque, Shriek, Spellbinder and Blight. They can't exactly blend in. Well maybe here they can but—"

"Terry," Aré cut the boy off mid rant, "we made it here before they did. Sora's essence hasn't made it here from the time we came from yet. Unlike you a Fae's physical body doesn't move through time if they go to a time in which they are alive. I told you before my essence came here, my memories from the future."

"Then how come you arrived wearing the clothing from our time and covered in blood?" he questioned.

"That's complicated," Aré replied after a moment. "But the point is that we still beat them here. We still have time."

Terry stopped his pacing, "How much does your father know, exactly?"

Aré shrugged, "Not much actually. I told him that I came back from about fifty years in the future, that I had a companion and that we didn't come here willingly."

"He knows about me."

"To a point. He knows your name is Terry but not much else." Aré looked at the pieces of the brush in his hand then tossed them onto a nearby bench. "Besides, my father knows not to ask questions about the future. At least not any questions which could have a dire effect on it."

"Well that's good, at least."

"Yeah," the two fell into a long silence during which Aré finished brushing out the horse and placing the mare into her stall with some food and water. Afterwards they headed back to the manor. Before entering the manor Aré stopped Terry. "I really do apologize for snapping at you earlier. This whole experience has to be harder on you than me."

"I'm not sure I would say that." Terry replied.

Aré raised an eyebrow, "I'm able to blend into the times better than you are. There is so much you have to be careful about. So much knowledge you have to not let slip."

"And you don't? You know just as much as I do, if not more. Look, I'll be fine. So long as nobody tries to read my mind I think we'll be okay."

Aré gave Terry a skeptical look before nodding slightly and entering the manor. "If you say so. I know we are not quite used to the difference in time," his gaze traveled out one of the windows towards the setting sun, "hopefully we won't be here much longer. I only estimate another day or so then we'll return to Gotham."

"And then what?"

"Then we wait for my brother to show and figure out how to get back without damaging the timeline."

"Oh, sounds simple enough. No problem then."

Aré rolled his eyes, a light chuckle escaping him, "Yeah… right…"

* * *

Aré had been right about the effects of jet lag. Terry found himself staring at the ceiling of his quarters, wide awake and with no hope of falling asleep anytime soon. Turning his head to the left he saw the red glow of the bedside clock read 11:38. Terry groaned, one would think that given the time to actually get a good night's sleep he would do just that, sleep. While Terry welcomed the chance for the extra sleep it seemed as if his body had other ideas. He tried to will himself to sleep, didn't work. He heaved a dramatic sigh, it had to be well past midnight now. He looked at the clock again 11:42. _Oh come on!_

"Slag it." When he'd taken a tour of the manor he'd spotted a workout room, getting out of bed he changed into something a bit lighter and headed out. A little physical exertion would tire him out enough to get at least a few hours' sleep. He wasn't sure how many people were still awake and remembering how sensitive Fae hearing was he made sure to be extra quiet as he left his room.

As he walked down the hallway towards the staircase leading downstairs voices caught his attention. Curious he moved closer to the balcony and knelt down. Boot heals clicked on the hardwood floor, "What are you doing here?"

That had been Aré. Terry peered through the balcony railing and watched the man come into view. He hadn't yet changed out of his earlier attire and Terry couldn't help but be reminded that the man was more than human. Wearing those clothes he actually _looked_ like the mythical creature he was.

"I had to talk to you."

Terry started at the other voice. His eyes went wide as he saw Bruce come into view. His voice wasn't quite as deep as Terry was used to hearing. It stilled awed him to see his dad so young. _Dad?_ he thought, _have I really come to accept that so quickly?_ Shaking himself from his musings Terry returned his focus to the conversation taking place below him.

"And it couldn't possibly wait until I had come back to Gotham?"

"No, this is something I didn't think could wait."

Aré stood straight, crossing his arms. "Let me guess, the world is in danger. _Again._ Oh, I know, Jack is on the loose again."

"This is not League business and has nothing to do with the Joker."

"Then what is this about?"

"I ran into someone while I was patrolling."

"You always run into someone."

"True, but not everyone I run into is from the future."

Terry felt his heart jump up into his throat. _I'm a dead man._

"The future you say?" Aré's voice became so even it was as if there was no emotion in him. "Who did you see?"

There was a moment of silence while Bruce studied Aré with a confused look before he replied, "Do you remember when I told you about when John and I chased the man from the future? I told you about the boy who my elder self had taken as a protégé." A muscle in Terry's cheek twitched at being called a boy.

"You are saying the boy you saw while you were in the future is in this time? In Gotham?"

Bruce nodded, "Yes," the tone of his voice belaying his exasperation. "You had to have felt the transition."

Aré appeared to be trying to remain calm. "I felt it. Such was the basis of our conversation during our meeting. Considering those who were taking part in the meeting, suffice to say we got nothing done."

"You were called here because of time travel? How long have you known the boy was here?"

Aré seemed to deflate. "It hasn't been that long B. Only a couple of days at most. Whatever it was we were originally going to talk about has been put on hold."

Bruce was silent for a moment. "Are they going to search for the boy?"

Aré shrugged, "I have no idea what those fools are planning to do."

"Are you going to search for him?"

"How could I not? If the Council does search for him it would be better for everyone if I were to find him first."

"Hm, good point. What would happen if the Council were to find him first?

"More than likely they would make an example of him. They were very angry and were nearly ready to announce our existence to the rest of the world." Bruce's eyebrows rose in surprise. "The Council was very adamant that they 'remove those who break the laws.'"

"Remove, as in—"

"How do you think I mean? Remove, never to be heard from again."

Terry suppressed a shiver. He didn't want to disappear forever. Besides, his being here wasn't his fault. He'd been trying to prevent the others from coming back in time. It wasn't like he had a choice.

"Look, B, it's past midnight. I'm tired and my day's been crap. If it's all the same to you I'm going to attempt to put the last twelve hours behind me. I will see you when I get back to Gotham, okay?"

Bruce gave a slight nod and remained where he was even when Aré turned and headed back from the way the two had come. Deciding to forgo his workout Terry moved away from his hiding spot and quietly made his way back to his room. He didn't even bother to change back into his sleep cloths before climbing into bed. He was not looking forward to seeing Aré in the morning. Terry just _knew_ the man was going to chew him out.

His heart jumped into his throat when he heard his door crack open. With his back to the door he was able to hide the look of surprise that had appeared on his face. He closed his eyes and schooled his features to make it look like he was sleeping, forcing his breathing to be slow and even and praying that whoever was at the door couldn't hear his frantic heartbeat. The door closed back up after a few minutes and Terry let out a sigh of relief. Physical exertion was out of the question for the night but he surprised himself by falling asleep in only a few minutes.


	7. Six: Bruce

**A/N: **Bruce may seem a bit OOC but I figure there's a side of Bruce that only family and those he considers family see. That's what I show here.

_**Six: Bruce**_

When Terry awoke the next morning he found himself dreading meeting with Aré. However he knew there was no way he could avoid the man. Well he could but not forever. After showering and changing he went downstairs. He was met in the hallway by Katelyn.

"His Majesty is taking his meal in the kitchen. Breakfast is ready, feel free to go and help yourself."

"Thank you," Terry made his way to the kitchen. He walked through the door and came to an immediate stop. Sitting at the small table was not the Prince of Fae but the Prince of Gotham. "Uh… you're not who I was expecting."

Bruce put his fork back down on the plate. "No, probably not," he replied, "have we met before? You look familiar. I'm Bruce by the way."

Terry took a seat at the only spot at the table with an empty plate, to the left of Bruce. "Terry, and I don't think we've met."

"Hm," Bruce picked up his fork again. "I could have sworn we had met before. Oh I know," the fork fell back to the plate with a clink causing Terry to jump. "I ran into you the other day outside Wayne Enterprises."

Terry had hoped Bruce wouldn't remember that. Then again he was sitting next to the original Batman so the odds of Bruce forgetting were nil. No point in denying it. "Oh yeah, and it was more like I ran into you. Sorry about that."

"It was no big deal." Bruce replied, finally resuming his breakfast. "Help yourself. Aré should be back in a minute."

Terry looked at the table trying to decide between the pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. Finally settling on some pancakes and bacon he hoped his appetite would come back. Seeing Bruce had dampened it. The moment Aré entered the room Terry's appetite was killed completely.

"Morning Terry," Aré said, sitting down.

"Morning," Terry squeaked, he cleared his throat. That did not just happen.

"I see you two have met," Aré acted as if the conversation he had with Bruce never happened. Terry figured that may be because he didn't want Bruce to know Terry's identity.

"We ran into each other the other day," Bruce said.

"Really? Small world."

"So how long have you known Aré?" Bruce asked Terry.

"A couple of days," Terry replied, "about a week or so. Why?"

Bruce's lips pulled down into a small frown. "Where are you from?"

"Gotham. Again why?"

Bruce shrugged, "I'm just surprised he told you about himself in such a short amount of time."

"I'm sitting right here," Aré said dryly. "Besides the kid can trace his family back to Gaia and he needed work and a place to stay."

"What's he doing for you?"

"I needed an assistant."

"Hm," Bruce seemed to think for a moment. Of course Terry hadn't a clue of what could be going through Bruce's head. He half expected Bruce to be putting the pieces together and at any moment was going to jump up, point to him and yell, "Ah ha!" Terry had to suppress a smile, okay to the Bruce jumping scenario was highly unlikely but it would have been hilarious if he'd done so.

"How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"Not old enough to be out on your own."

Terry hesitated a moment, not sure how much he should try to tell. Bruce could smell a lie a mile away. He had to stop and think about what was in the folder Aré had given him. "I was put up for adoption when I was a kid." He shrugged, "no one wanted me I guess but since I was allowed to go on my own I suppose it doesn't matter anymore."

"Don't you have to have proof that you can take care of yourself before you can be granted emancipation? From the sound of it I'd think you had run away."

Terry felt hear rise in his cheeks. He'd done that more than once in his lifetime. "Well… I… Uh… I didn't this time." Bruce raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really, honest. I didn't run away from home or anything this time." He dropped his fork and put his chin in his hand. "Not that I have any place to go back to," he muttered. Looking over at Aré he saw the man trying and failing to suppress a smile. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

Aré was leaning with his elbows on the table and chin resting on his right hand. He was no longer trying to suppress his smile, "Immensely."

Apparently Bruce wasn't done with his interrogation, "have you finished school?"

Terry said, "yes," at the same time Aré said, "no."

The sound which came from Bruce sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "I tried the same thing when I was in school too." Even with the stories he'd been told, Terry still had a hard time believing that. "Where are you going to stay?"

The smile vanished from Aré's face. "I kind of figured that since he was going to be working for me, he would stay with me."

Bruce looked skeptical. "Stay with you? In your apartment?"

"It's the whole top floor, I have three bedrooms."

"One of which is yours and Mai's. The other is your office and the last is your guest bedroom."

"I thought I'd convert the guest room into his room."

"So he'll live and work out of your apartment? Do you want him to go stir crazy?" Bruce turned from Aré to look once again at Terry. "I propose you come live with me."

Terry was surprised, "huh?"

"Think about it. Home and work won't be under the same roof. Do you have your driver's license yet?"

"No," at least not in this time.

"Okay so until you do I can bring you into the city and I can have Alfred pick you up after you get out of classes."

"I'll bite Bruce, why are you suggesting this? It will be easier if the kid stays with me."

"And I'm sure Tim would like someone else around the house that's closer to his age."

Terry waved the hand with the fork in it to get their attention. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No," Aré and Bruce said in unison.

Terry just blinked, yeah he should have seen that coming.

"If it will make you feel any better you can come live with me too." Bruce said, flashing Aré a grin.

Bruce flinched when Aré smacked him in the back of the head, "cheeky brat."

"What would you do without me?"

"Do you want to find out?" Aré's tone of voice and the expression on his face were so serious that Terry thought he actually meant it. Judging from the look on his face, Bruce did too."

"Are you… Do you…" Bruce seemed at a loss for words, "You don't mean that?"

"Gods Bruce, no I didn't mean that." Aré laughed, "The look on your face right now is priceless."

Bruce scowled, "that wasn't funny."

Bruce's scowl was one Terry had been on the receiving end of more than once. Terry suddenly found himself very home sick. He had no idea if he was ever going to get back to his own time. He didn't know if he was ever going to see his mom or his brother again. He had no idea if they realized he was missing or whether or not time had even continued to pass there. Did Bruce think they were dead? Would he have already known this was going to happen? Terry didn't know the first thing about time travel, _but what if we never get back…?_

"I don't think I would mind."

"What?" Aré asked, confused.

"Staying with Bruce, I don't think I'd mind."

Both men turned their attention back to him. "He can come back with me," Bruce continued to argue his case, "I can have Alfred prepare a room for him."

Aré looked back and forth between the two, obviously scrutinizing them. "Are you sure?"

"I can always come live with you if it doesn't work out."

"We can get you enrolled in Gotham High once we get back."

Terry groaned, sent back in time and he _still_ couldn't get out of school.

"All right," Aré conceded finally, "so long as he makes it to his job as soon as he's out of school."

"Not a problem. Alfred can bring him home when he's done for the night."

Tired of continually being talked about as if he wasn't in the room Terry said, "You and mom can continue to fight for custody but would you mind waiting until after I've left the room?"

Smirk firmly in place Bruce replied, "Don't worry mom, I'll have him back before bedtime." This earned him another smack to the head.

Bruce opened his mouth to say something else but Aré held up a finger in warning, "Unless you want me to take your voice away I would suggest you not saying anything else."

"You can do that?" Terry asked.

"Not the way you think. It's more like stopping time in small sections. Preventing sound."

"When do you have to be back at the palace?" Bruce asked Aré.

"I'm not going back for a while. That is if I even bother to go back. They were all arguing like a group of five-year-olds. Listening to them made my head hurt."

"I can imagine."

"I'm not the only one who appears to be playing hooky. Don't you have a business to run?"

"Is that your subtle way of telling me to leave?"

"Maybe."

"I'll be heading back to Gotham after breakfast." Bruce turned his attention from Aré back to Terry. "If you want Terry you can come with me. Get settled in at the manor and work on getting you back in school."

"Yeah, sure," Terry replied.

"All right. Once we're done here we'll leave. We can pick up the rest of your things along the way."

"That won't be a problem," Terry sighed, "everything I own I have with me."

Bruce looked at him with something akin to disbelief. "What exactly do you own?"

Terry felt his face heat up. "What I'm wearing and everything in my backpack."

Bruce's expression changed from one of disbelief to one Terry wasn't exactly sure he could peg. Bruce's jaw set and his head gave a small jerk, almost like a nod. Then he stood, "I'll meet you out front when you get ready." With that he left the room.

Terry blinked a couple of times before addressing Aré, "what just happened?"

"Bruce has… issues with people who are under privileged. He hates to see it. If you've ever done any research on him you'll see he has multiple charities. All of which he donates what could be considered a small fortune to each year."

"Yeah but, why would he have a reaction like that about me?"

"Think about what you just told him. Parents are gone, you went through the system. There was no one who really took care of you. I suppose he's seeing a bit of himself in you."

"How is that possible?"

"He's always had Alfred," Aré gave a one sided shrug, "for a while there though, he almost didn't. He was almost made a ward of the state. It's a bit more complicated than I have time to explain."

Terry realized they had both finished their breakfast. He stood and put his dishes in the sink. "I should probably get my stuff."

Aré nodded, "probably. Oh and Terry," Terry stopped just before the door and looked back, "don't do anything stupid."

* * *

Bruce hadn't been waiting in the foyer for long before the boy arrived, back pack slung over his shoulder. Bruce had to admit so some surprise to learn Aré had hired an assistant, let alone told said assistant about who and what he was. And yet there was something about the boy, something familiar.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Terry replied. The two fell into step and headed down the driveway. Terry broke the silence after a few feet. "How do we leave here exactly? Do we take a plane or a boat…?"

Bruce laughed lightly, "No," he reached into his pocket and pulled like a small droplet shaped piece of glass, about an inch long. "We use this."

Terry's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What is that?"

"It's how we get back." He held it out for Terry to look at.

"How, it's just a piece of glass?"

"It is but it isn't. I suppose you'll have to learn how to do this too sometime. Anyone who can trace their lineage back to Gaia has the ability to come and go form the island at will. It's harder for humans to do than it is for the Fae though since humans don't necessarily have the ability to use magic. There is just enough in our blood to use the ability."

"So what's the glass for?"

"I use the droplet as a way to focus the energy needed to make the trip. It was an heirloom that belonged to my grandmother."

"So Aré just uses his magic to come and go."

"Yes," Bruce reached out and grasped Terry's arm. The droplet in his other hand began to glow a light blue.

Their surroundings darkened around them before quickly lightening up. Bruce looked up the driveway to see Wayne Manor not too far away.

"When Aré did that," Terry said looking around, "it was more sudden."

"He was probably going for shock value." Bruce gestured with his head towards the manor. "Come on, let's get you settled."

Upon entering the manor they were met by Alfred. After introductions were made and Terry's blanching at the use of, "Terrence," by Alfred Terry was led to what would become his room for the time being.

Tim seemed more than happy to have someone else in the manor closer to his own age. Later that night after everybody was settled Bruce pondered the change of events his life had suddenly taken. Granted he was going to keep his night life from Terry but having the boy under his room, it just felt right.

* * *

The weeks seemed to fly by and before he knew it Terry had been in the past for almost two months. Enrolling in school had been moot, school had gotten out shortly after their arrival.

Terry got along great with Tim. Of course Aré's crack about their name rhyming with Tom and Jerry with Terry being the mouse hadn't gone over too well with him.

Being Aré's assistant wasn't as bad as Terry had first thought it would be. He'd even gotten to know and understand the man a little better the last two months. Even though Terry had heard of Taji Marin in his time he'd never read any of his books. He'd gone back and read them. He was a bit surprised to realize the books were in many ways a retelling of Aré's life. They told of an immortal man's life, seeing history change around him. There were parts Terry was certain Aré had taken from personal experience.

Aré's short side stories were what got Terry's attention more than anything. He wrote "hypothetical" stories about the Dark Knight. Surprisingly enough about three fourths of what was written was true. Terry had wondered what he would look like drawn into one of Aré's stories.

Not only did Terry find his job interesting and his body had _finally_ gotten into a normal sleeping pattern but he had also gotten to know his father better. In his mind Terry had begun to think of Bruce as "dad" though he had been able to refrain from calling him that aloud.

Terry found he really liked Alfred. He now understood why Bruce was so fond of the man. Alfred had the presence of a father and treated everyone in the manor as if they were family. Terry liked this sense of belonging.

Currently Terry and Bruce were planning (more like plotting) a birthday party for Aré.

"How big of a cake are we having?" Terry asked.

Bruce shrugged, "I don't know yet, why?"

"Because we're going to be putting," he paused to do the math, "four hundred thirty-eight candles on it."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You plan on having ESU standing by?"

Terry smirked. The longer they remained in the past and the more he got to know Bruce and his real personality. Sarcasm, he learned, must have been a family trait. He'd asked Aré once about the face Bruce showed to the world and if what he was initially seeing was it. Terry had been surprised to learn that the personality Bruce showed to Terry was his true personality, minus the Batman aspect.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? Think he could get them all out in one breath?"

With a shake of his head Bruce said, "No, especially not with trick candles."

"He's going to kill you," laughed Terry. "Since we've only got twenty-four hours to live we should probably make the most of it."

"I'll start decorating."

* * *

Aré hadn't been surprised at all that no one had been convinced to _not_ throw him a birthday party. He'd been glad to see Bruce and Terry getting along and getting to know each other. He could see their individual handiwork in the decorating.

Luckily his birthday was a small affair. Only close friends were there. While everyone was trading stories Aré snuck away to a quieter part of Wayne Manor. With all that had happened and what had yet to happen Aré had fallen into a bit of a funk. Not quite depression but close. He'd been doing a good job of hiding it—

"What is bothering you?"

—or not.

He looked over his shoulder to see his father standing in the doorway. "Nothing," Kane sent him a skeptical look, "not more than usual anyway."

Kane moved to stand beside his son. "Do you wish to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? You know there isn't much I dare tell. I keep trying but I still can't send Terry and I back."

"Even I can find no reason for why that is. Your ability to travel time should not be impeded."

"And yet it is. I still think what's blocking me is the others haven't arrived yet."

"Probably," Kane was silent for a few moments and the two of them stared out the window at the ocean. "There is more troubling you than you are telling me. Bruce and your friends are worried. Quite frankly, so am I."

"I'll be fine papa," Aré insisted, "really."

Kane took his arm and led him to stand before the full length mirror in the exercise room. "Have you truly looked at yourself lately? You have lost weight, you are paler than normal, your hair is dull and your eyes… your eyes hold such sadness. I'm worried Aré."

Aré took in his reflection. He hadn't realized his agonizing over his brother's arrival had led him to be in such a state. "I… I didn't realize.

Kane's gaze was scrutinizing. "I believe you. Come on, they're waiting for you to blow out your candles."

Aré rolled his eyes. "They just had to put every candle on the cake."

"It is a big cake." Kane said with a chuckle. His tone became serious. "Aré how old are you really?"

"Four eighty."

Kane's eyes widened momentarily but he said nothing more. They made their way back to the dining room where the others were already waiting. The cake had been lit and there was a fire extinguisher sitting next to Bruce.

"Cute," Aré muttered sarcastically.

"You could roast marshmallows over this thing," Tim quipped.

"Everyone is here now," Terry said, "So…" They all began to sing "Happy Birthday." Aré rolled his eyes and waited for them to finish.

When they were done singing Aré took a breath and blew. Instantly all the candles went out. Instead of the clapping which normally follows the singing there was stunned silence. Aré caught his father attempting to suppress a smile out of the corner of his eye. Aré didn't bother trying to hide his grin. He wasn't grinning because of what he'd just done. No, he was grinning at the identical shocked expressions Bruce and Terry wore. They continued to stare at the cake, each blinking in confusion as if their brains couldn't process what they had just seen.

"Wait… how…" Terry stuttered.

Bruce picked up a candle, "they're wet."

Two sets of blue eyes turned to him, "you cheated!" they cried.

Aré laughed. Gods had he needed this. He felt lighter and vaguely realized he was hovering a few centimeters above his chair. "I cheated?" He looked at the cake and suddenly about half of the candles came back to life. "What do you call using trick candles?" The candle flames elongated before coming together and moving along Aré's outstretched hand, moving up his right arm before hovering over his left hand.

The flame was pulled from his hand, "Stop showing off," Kane scolded lightly, closing his hand and causing the flame to wink out.

"Take all the fun out of life." Turning back to the two culprits before him, "Oh stop pouting you two. I can control fire and water remember? Did you honestly think I was going to let any of those stay lit? And what possessed you to use all of those candles anyway? You lucky it's a big cake or you would have melted it."

"Or set the house on fire." Dick quipped.

"Anyone else want to take a crack at my age?" Aré asked dryly. He looked at everyone around him.

Kane was smiling but put up his hands in defense when Aré looked at him. "I am not saying a word. I am older than you."

"I'd be worried if you weren't."

Kane shook his head, "you are still young by Fae standards."

"I'd hate to see old." Terry quipped.

"Enough talk," Tim reached out and swiped a finger though the frosting, "I want cake."

Exclamations of, "hey!" echoed though the dining room while Tim put on an innocent face, licking the frosting from his finger.

"It's a good thing I had Alfred poison that side of the cake."

"Very funny Terry."

"You know what," Aré interrupted, "I'm with Tim. I want sugar."

Bruce's eyebrow twitched then he let out a long sigh, "crap."

* * *

The party had ended late and everyone had had a good time. Aré had made himself as annoying as possible to his two nephews while he'd been on a sugar high. Though considering how quickly his body metabolized things wasn't that long. He had drawn it out as long as he possibly could, much to the annoyance of Bruce and Terry.

After returning to the apartment Mai had gone to bed while Aré went to work on a few pages of his comic. He hadn't been all that tired and figured he'd make use of the quiet.

While inking in his main character he felt something shift. He lifted his head up, trying to find the source of the disturbance. He felt it again, a subtle shift in time.

_They've arrived._


	8. Seven: Holy Double Feature Batman!

_**Seven: Holy Double Feature Batman!**_

Jack Napier, at least the man formally known as Jack Napier, strolled leisurely down the worn down halls of the abandoned building he now resided in, whistling as he went. He had everything going for him; he was recently released from Arkham. Well, escaped but who cared about semantics? Really, the guards at Arkham couldn't figure out how he continued to get out. They kept putting him in the same room whenever he was put back there. He'd dug out a secret door years ago. The guards were really stupid.

Joker turned a corner and saw, well, someone who should not have been there. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded.

The man or woman or whatever it was stood with what appeared to be arms crossed over what could be a chest. The thing looked like a black Clayface only not as big and bulky.

"There's something I needed," a woman then, "and this is where I was told I would find it."

"Well whatever it is you can't have it." Joker crossed his own arms. Who dare come into his home… Where was Harley anyway? And the hyena's, they should have been all over this intruder. Ah well good help is so hard to find. It didn't matter though, he was the Joker, and he always had something up his sleeve.

The woman thing uncrossed her arms which then elongated, coming straight towards him. His reflexes were quick enough for him to jump out of the way even if his mind hadn't yet caught up with his body. He felt his stomach churn. No matter how many times he saw it, be it this woman or Clayface or even that Martian Manhunter changing ones shape and distorting body parts was just plain disgusting.

Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to evade her grasp a second time. One of her arms wrapped around his legs while the other went around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. The tip of the arm holding his torso made its way down the front of his suit. That's interesting and a bit disturbing. He started laughing. Damn it, if word ever got out that the almighty Joker was ticklish, his image would be ruined. Better play this one off.

"Whatever you think you're looking for you ain't going to find it in there. Try the other side." The hand thing moved, just a little more to the left. Ha! Acid flew out of the flower pinned to his jacket. The creature screamed, dropping Joker. He landed hard with a grunt. Ow his butt bone!

Picking himself up Joker dusted off his suit. "Let's try this again shall we?" He began to circle the woman thing, keeping a slight distance of course. "What exactly are you looking for here and who sent your pretty little… Whatever you use for a face anyway?"

"If you must know," the woman huffed, "I am after the formula for your toxin."

Joker laughed again. "Do you honestly think I keep that written down?" He tapped the side of his head, "Sorry honey all of that is in here."

The woman crossed her arms, solidifying herself. She was shorter than him in this form and she was kind of pretty, in that walking ink blot sort of way.

"Fine, then you will simply have to come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you honey."

"My employer wants the formula for your toxin. If that means that I have to bring you with me then so be it."

Her arms lashed out again and he let loose more of the acid from his flower. It wasn't long before the flower was empty. Joker ran, if this thing was anything like Clayface then it would avoid any kind of liquid. All he had to do was find a water source. Easy right? Something caught his legs and he face planted the ground. Okay, so maybe not so easy.

His arms were once again pinned to his sides. He was turned over and brought closer to her. The woman had changed back from her solid form. One of her arms had wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply.

As his vision began to blur and go dark the only thing he could think of was, _where was Harley?_

* * *

"I told you to bring him here," a young male voice yelled. "Not to beat him up and bring him to me _unconscious_!"

"How else was I supposed to get him here?" Ink blot was talking now, "He was not cooperating."

"Did you try asking first before beating him senseless?"

Joker opened his eyes and looked around. He was no longer in the abandoned warehouse; instead he was in a lavish apartment. High up if the view out the window was any indication.

"He's awake."

Joker turned his attention in the direction of the new speaker. It was a guy in a full length black and orange striped costume. Standing next to him was another guy who looked like an overgrown beaver with the mitts on his hands. Joker tried to laugh but his throat was so sore the only thing that came out was a dry rasp. He sat up and his vision spun. Oxygen deprivation, what a joy.

"I apologize for the behavior of my associate here." Nakumaru sat in a chair beside where Joker lay. "Inque here will be more subtle next time."

Ink blot's name was actually Inque! That was funny! Joker rubbed at his sore neck. "So…" his voice was still raspy, "If it ain't the boy who would be king. What brings you back to our lovely little neighborhood?"

Phoenix's younger brother shook his head. "King? No, that's my brother's future role. If he lives that long anyway." A tight smile crossed his lips, "I require your services Joker."

"My toxin."

"That and more. I'm sure Inque left out some important facts while she was strangling you. You and I have a common goal. I want my brother to suffer and you want the Batman dead."

"And those are common goal's how?" Out of the corner of his eye Joker could see the other's look intrigued too. There was only one other person with a visible face in the room besides Nakumaru and himself. Where had the guy in the business suit come from?

"That's right, you don't know yet." Nakumaru leaned forward, elbows on his knees and chin resting on folded hands. "I won't give you the punch line just yet but there is something I have known for years. Something which will help all of us."

"And that is…?"

"My reasoning behind going after the Batman isn't what you think. I want to use him to make my brother suffer. I am going after something he cares about deeply."

"Is there a point?" striped jail guy asked.

"Yes, Spellbinder, there is. Family is very important to my brother."

Joker thought he had an idea of where this was going. "You are saying that Phoenix and Batman are related?"

"Why yes Joker I am. For you see, my brother is the Batman's uncle. Which means—"

"You know who the man is under the cowl!" beaver mitt yelled.

"This is going to be fun," Joker crowed. Then he laughed, sore throat or no. He laughed so hard he thought his throat was starting to bleed but he didn't care. The beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. This was going to be so much fun indeed.

* * *

A very annoying buzzing roused Terry from his sleep. Was it really the time for his alarm to go off? Reluctantly cracking an eye Terry saw that it was still dark out, nowhere near time to get up then. What could possibly be making that noise? Vibrations on his bedside table caught his attention. _Damn cell phone,_ he thought, _I could have sworn I turned that off._ Reaching out he grabbed the stupid device and saw that he had one text message. Who the hell was texting him in the middle of the night? Whatever it was about it had better be important.

Terry flipped open the phone and saw the message was from Aré. He hoped this wasn't pay back for the candles on the birthday cake. He pushed the button to open the message. It consisted of two words:

_They're here_

Terry sat up straight, wide awake now. He called Aré and got up in search of some clothes. Aré answered after a few rings. "How long ago did they get here?" Terry asked.

_"I felt the shift in time a few minutes before I texted you,"_ Aré replied. _"Though I don't know where they are and it's beginning to frustrate me. We've been waiting for this for months and now that they're here I can't even find them."_

Terry finally managed to get dressed, now if only he could find his shoes. "Do you still have my suit at the apartment?"

Aré's voice became suspicious, _"Why? What are you planning?"_

"Nothing yet," Terry replied. He'd found his sneakers and was just finishing tying the last one. "But these guys aren't going to stay low and dad's not going to know how to deal with them."

Terry could almost hear the smile, _"Dad?"_

"Shut up."

_"I still don't think it's a good idea. If they see you, especially in that suit, then they'll know that we're here too."_

"Then what do you plan on doing? Hiding?"

_"Not in that sense. They probably think we're dead because of the explosion. I'll let you have the suit back _just in case_ but I don't want you going out in it like you did when you were in your time."_

"Isn't it your time too?"

_"I exist in both. It's very easy for me to forget about being there."_

Realization hit Terry, "You don't want to go back."

Aré sighed, "_It's not that simple Terry. I'm happy here. In this time my father is free. He's not a virtual corpse in a glass coffin."_

"Yeah, but you know it's going to happen and what about the promise to your brother? Don't you want to free him too?"

_"Of course I do. It's just… Look at Bruce. Compare him now to how he's going to be in fifty years. Which version would you rather be with?"_

Aré had a point. Terry was having great time with his dad. Even though his dad hadn't told him the family secret yet. He wasn't surprised. Terry hadn't told him about his future nighttime adventures yet either. Terry didn't belong in this time though. His mom and brother were waiting for him to come back. He still wasn't sure if they thought he was dead or not. He hoped things had stopped there and wouldn't start back up until after they got back. If they got back. That was a secret fear of his. What if he never got back home?

_"Terry, I'll get you home. We're both going back somehow. I have to go back too. As much as I hate to admit it I don't belong here either. At least not the me with the memories I have. I know too much. Listen, there's really nothing we can do tonight. We'll talk when you come to work tomorrow."_

Terry looked at the bedside clock. It read 1:23 a.m. "Don't you mean later today?"

_"Whatever. Listen, I'm sorry I woke you. I didn't think your phone would be on. Go back to sleep. I'll see you later."_

"Yeah, later." They hung up and Terry looked at the phone for a few moments. How was he supposed to go back to sleep now that he was wide awake? Standing from the bed Terry decided to go for a walk. Maybe some fresh air would help him get tired again.

Leaving his room Terry made his way out of the manor, keeping quiet enough so as not to wake anyone. He headed out the front door and nearly had a heart attack. He'd almost run into Bruce. "Holy… Scare a guy to death."

"What are you doing up?" Bruce asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. Are you just getting back from work?" Though whether that work was actually at the office or prowling the night Terry didn't know. Terry guessed office, Bruce tended to come back via the cave when he'd been out as Batman.

"Yeah, late night." Bruce groaned, "I've got a whole board of directors I'd like to throttle."

"Remind me not go to into the corporate world."

Bruce sat on the front step, dropping his briefcase next to him. "Don't go into the corporate world."

Terry chuckled and sat beside his father, shaking his head. "The reason I'm up is because I can't sleep. I was sleeping and then," he shrugged, "now I'm wide awake."

"Bad dreams?"

It wouldn't do him any good to lie to Bruce but he also couldn't tell him the truth. "No, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

The look Bruce gave him almost made Terry spill everything. He really wished he had this kind of relationship with his old man back in his time. "I wish I could talk about it. Problem is I have no idea where to even begin. You ever have one of those bad feelings. The kind where you don't know what's causing it but you know it's there?"

Bruce nodded, "I've had them from time to time."

"That's part of my problem now. I feel like something bad is going to happen I just don't know where or when."

"I wish I had something to say to help you but I don't." Bruce said honestly. He stood and stretched. "I'm going to try and get some sleep while it's still dark out. Try not to stay up too late and try not to dwell on what's bothering you. Night time isn't exactly the best time to try and work through problems. Think on it more in the morning after you've gotten a little sleep. You might find the feeling is being caused by something simple. If the problem is more complicated a solution may present itself. If you do go for a walk don't go too far. I don't want to have to go hunting for you in the morning."

"I won't. I'll probably just sit here for a while. Night Bruce."

"Night Terry." Bruce entered the manor and Terry looked out at the darkness of the yard. The cool fresh air was beginning to relax him. Maybe his dad was right. Maybe he'd think of something once he'd gotten some sleep. Terry stayed outside for about twenty minutes before going back to bed. The nagging feeling of impending doom never did leave him.

* * *

The next afternoon Terry sat with Aré in his kitchen going over what they knew, which regrettably wasn't much, and what they were going to do about the newcomers to the present time.

"So let me see if I've got this straight," Aré said, the pencil in his right hand going around in circles, doodling on the paper the man had been taking notes on. "Spellbinder is the guy who can flash hallucinate you, Inque is a human ink spot, Shriek has sound issues and Blight is a walking toxic waste dump. Did I miss anything?"

"Not really. You've got their names and personalities right. The two who worry me the most are Inque and Blight."

"But Inque has issues with water right? I can take care of her. Though Radioactive Man is going to be a problem."

Terry smiled and shook his head. "What's with you and the sarcastic names?"

"It's fun. Besides, who came up with their names? I like mine better."

Terry shook his head again. "Anyway, any idea what your brother will go after first?"

Aré shrugged. "That depends. Before I knew his move. Now all I know is his endgame. He wants to kill Bruce just to make me suffer. How he'll do that I'm not sure yet."

"Do you think he'll recruit anyone from this time?"

"It's possible. Especially since no one from your time will know how things work here. They'll stick out like sore thumbs."

"Kind of like I did."

"Little bit but…" Aré went back to doodling on his paper, "I know how things work out here. Naku's not so savvy on how the world works beyond the island. He knows enough to get buy but not enough to teach the others to blend in. I'm not sure he would even want to."

"So we know what he wants the outcome to be but not how he'll go about doing it." Terry finally decided to say something he'd thought about the previous night. "I'm beginning to think we should tell dad about us."

Aré was already shaking his head. "He already knows that the Batman from the future is here. He doesn't need to know that it's you in the suit. The less he knows about you the better."

"And why is that exactly?" Terry was getting tired of lying to his father. "How is keeping him in the dark going to help him when the baddies from our time show up?"

"It won't but I don't know how to tell him."

"Here's an idea," Terry said, sarcasm filtering into his voice, "why not just tell him straight up."

"You are very stubborn, just like your father. And sarcastic."

Terry smirked, "Family trait."

Aré reached across and smacked him upside the head. "Cheeky brat."

"Alright so we don't tell dad, for now." Terry went back to their original subject. "Any idea on how to catch your brother? We are right back where we started."

"I know, but I may have an idea on that. We know he is going to show up sometime. I may not be able to track him but I may be able to trap him."

Terry was intrigued. "How?"

"A blood spell. I didn't want to use it before because of how powerful it is though it's looking like I don't have much of a choice. It will force him here and trap him. Thing of it is, is that I'll be trapped with him too."

"Then why are we contemplating this?"

"Because it has to work and because I'm not going to let either of you die."

* * *

Bruce left the office early partly due to the board of directors he wanted to throttle; he'd leave them to Lucius. The other reason was the break in at Gotham Chemical Research Laboratories. He left the building, remotely calling the Batmobile to meet him in the sub-sub-basement of Wayne Enterprises. He changed into his suit while waiting for the vehicle. It arrived just as he was adjusting his cowl. Climbing inside he sped out of the garage towards the research laboratory.

The reports he was getting over the police scanner did not describe anyone he currently knew. There was one he would have said was Clayface except the coloring was wrong. They were describing a black creature with the same basic ability. Something about this did not sit right with him.

Batman made it to the laboratories in no time at all. Parking the car out back he entered through the second floor window. He moved to the stairwell and silently made his way down. He snuck by the police, which was not a hard feat as their attention was fully on what was going on in the basement where most of the chemicals were stored.

Batman looked up when the lights flickered then died. Someone outside had killed the power, triggering a lockdown in the building. Security doors fell into place. One right behind Batman, trapping him in the basement with the criminals.

A voice drifted out of the room Batman stood outside of, one he recognized.

"We'll need a little bit of this and a little bit of this…"

Batman half pictured Joker with a shopping cart.

"Oh and grab some of that!"

There was an exasperated sigh; apparently whoever was taking orders from Joker wasn't too happy about it.

"Are we almost done?" a male voice asked. There was something off about it, almost like it was coming through an amplifier. "I'd rather not be around when the Batman decides to show up."

"Oh don't worry about him. I've got something special planned."

Batman really did _not_ like the sound of that.

"It's not the old one I'm worried about," said a female voice.

_Old one?_ Batman thought, _I'm not old!_

"What you mean that Batfake you told me about. Pah-_lease_. From the sound of things it's just some stupid kid in a costume." Almost as an afterthought, "though 'ol Batsy does like to keep young ones around. Wonder what that's about."

Batman felt his eyebrow twitch. _Focus moron_, he chided himself. Alright, so at least the two voices other than Joker had most likely come from the future just like the kid had. He doubted they'd shone up at the same time. How did the kid get here before these two did? How did the kid even get here?

Something off to the side caught Batman's eye. He looked to the far side of the room. He could have sworn he'd seen movement. There it was again, a slight disturbance in the dust yet there was nothing there to move.

Batman took out a small military mirror and set it around the corner. It allowed him to see those in the room. He already knew Joker was there. A feminine shaped creature which was black from head to toe stood leaning against the far wall. Then there was the man with metallic oversized arms and claws at the end of each of the "hands." The helmet looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

"Wait…" the voice belonged to the man with strange costume. His head turned, "Something isn't right." The man raised his arms and Batman was surprised when the wall he was leaning against began to vibrate and a high pitched sound assaulted him.

Batman covered his ears, lest his eardrums blow out.

"There are two extra heartbeats."

How the hell had the man heard his heart? That suit must have the ability to amplify sound plus the obvious ability to manipulate it to his whim.

"Come out, come out Batman."

There was a grunt of pain and Batman saw the boy from the future appear. So the suit had a camouflaging ability, nice. The boy recovered quickly, shooting to his feet and crouching in a defensive posture.

"So this is the Batfake you were telling me about," Joker asked.

Batman stood and circled around to another entrance to the room. He hoped the boy would keep them occupied long enough for him to get through. The lockdown kept them in all in the area but at least it hadn't cut off the secondary entrance to the lab.

"There!" metal man shouted and Batman was thrown against the far wall from the blast which came from the room. The wall before him had blown out and he covered his face to keep the debris from doing any damage.

"Are you trying to blow us to smithereens?" Joker yelled. "You do remember we are in a _chemical _lab. These chemicals go 'boom' you moron."

The black creature stepped forward extending an arm which shot out and wrapped around Batman's neck before he had time to react. The appendage around his neck squeezed and the only thing that kept his airways from being blocked completely was the strength of the armor around his neck. _What the hell is this thing?_ Batman thought.

"Now's not the time to kill him Inque. You know we have much more fun plans for the Bat." Joker reprimanded.

Batman reached up to remove the arm from around his neck but was unable to get a good grip. It was like trying to grab liquid rubber or wet clay. The arm around his neck tightened only long enough to slam his head against the wall. Batman momentarily saw stars. He was thankful he had a hard head, though the battle armor helped too.

The younger Batman, _this is going to be so confusing,_ pulled out a Baterang.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said the thing holding Batman. "Remember if you electrocute me the old guy gets it too."

_Electrocution is bad. _Batman felt his eyebrow twitch. _I'M NOT OLD!_

The younger man hesitated which allowed the large man in the armor an opening to attack. A shockwave was sent at the boy. The young man tried to dodge but was unable to avoid being clipped. The force of the blow sent him careening into the wall. There was a sickening crunch as he it. When the boy fell to the ground Batman saw fissures in the concrete wall where the boy had struck it.

Batman pulled out a baterang of his own and threw it at the armored man. It struck one of the claws, causing sparks. The man cried out and quickly removed the overloading piece of equipment. The arm around his neck tightened again. Spots danced in his vision.

"And on that note I think we'll be going. Shriekie blow us an exit."

The armored man used his remaining intact arm to blow out the wall behind them. When the dust settled Batman could see the outside of the building. Not planning to wait until he passed out from lack of oxygen Batman pulled out another baterang and threw it at the fire alarm. If this thing holding him was anything like Clayface, which he suspected it was, then water was its worst enemy. A direct hit to the alarm system caused all of the sprinklers in the room to go off. Water rained down on them. Inque gave an ungodly screech as she bolted for the opening. The sudden release of his neck allowed Batman to draw in much needed oxygen.

Holding a bag over his shoulder Joker turned around long enough to wave before disappearing through the hole with his cohorts behind him. Well this just went down as one of the suckiest fights ever.

The spots and dizziness slowly dissipated. Batman climbed to his feet. He wanted to go after Joker and the others but the fact that the boy had yet to move worried Batman. He rushed to the kid's side and slowly turned him onto his back. He leaned down and felt a wave of relief to feel that the kid was still breathing. He'd seen this kid die once; he didn't want to see it again.

For some reason he couldn't explain the sight of the kid lying prone like this made his chest tight. Every protective instinct he had flared to life. "Kid, wake up," he growled. He gave the kid a light shake but there was no response.

Feeling around the kid's body for noticeable injuries, namely broken bones, he found the kid's chest to be tender. When his hands reached the kids head Batman felt his stomach churn. The back of the kids head didn't feel right. Probing gently he didn't feel any fractures to the skull but he did feel something squishy between the kid's head and the cowl. He found a break in the suit at the kid's neck and gently lifted part of the cowl to reveal what he feared. There was blood coating the inside of the cowl. Logically he knew he should have kept the kid as he'd been lying and wait for paramedics but he couldn't bring himself to leave him to their hands. As gently as he could Batman lifted the kid into his arms, mindful of the head wound and potently broken ribs. He had to get the kid back to the cave. He also had to get a hold of Aré. He'd be able to help. Aré had been a doctor at one point and he knew the Fae kept up his knowledge. Considering some of the injuries Batman got the older man had to.

Batman went out the same opening Joker and the others had used. He remotely called for his car to meet him once he was outside. The Batmobile was waiting for him and once the roof opened Batman gently lowered the younger man into the passenger seat. Bolting to the other side Batman got in and floored the gas. For a brief moment he thought about alerting Commissioner Gordon about what had happened. A quick glance to his right waylaid any of those thoughts. It seemed to take forever for them to return to the cave. "Stay with me kid." Batman said. He reached over and took the kids hand and gave it a gentle shake. Still no response from the boy. _Damn it, damn it, damn it!_

_Finally_ the entrance to the cave came into view. The door barely had time to open before Batman went barreling through. The vehicle came to a screeching halt inside the cave, leaving tread marks along the floor. Batman jumped out throwing his own cowl back so his vision was better as he ran to the other side of the vehicle to retrieve the boy.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred's confused voice echoed through the cave.

Bruce briefly looked back at Alfred then deposited the kid on the medical table. "Is Aré here?" Bruce's voice shook, hell _he_ shook. It had been a long time since he'd felt fear like this and he didn't even know _why_ he was feeling it.

"He is upstairs. He's been looking for Master Terrance."

"We can look for Terry later. Right now I need him down here."

Alfred didn't reply as he ran back upstairs to fetch Aré.

Once he had the boy lying flat Bruce carefully examined the best way to remove the suit from the boy's body without injuring him more. Right now the worst injury appeared to be the one to his head but Bruce wasn't deluding himself into thinking that was the only injury the boy had. "Please wake up," he whispered. "I can't watch you die twice."

Very carefully Bruce began to peel back the cowl covering the kid's head. It wasn't even fully removed before Bruce's heart stopped. His eyes went wide in fear and horror. "Terry."

"What's wrong Bruce?"

Bruce looked up in disbelief at his uncle. Aré's gaze swept over them and he literally flew over to their side. He looked just as stunned as Bruce felt. Fingers snapped in front of his vision.

"Bruce what happened?"

Bruce forced himself to calm. "He was thrown against a concrete wall by some kind of shockwave. He hit so hard I _heard_ his bones crack. Help him please, I can't watch him die again."

Aré appeared remarkably calm considering Terry was just as much his friend as Bruce's. "Okay Bruce first I need you to breathe. You're going to make yourself pass out if you don't. Second I need you to try to calm down. Panicking isn't going to help him at all."

Aré was right. Bruce wondered briefly if he'd been hit by Scarecrow's fear toxin. It sure felt like it. He watched as Aré probed Terry's head wound. Blood covered the other man's hands. It didn't look right at all and Bruce felt like he was going to be sick.

"Alfred grab something. Bruce is about to puke," Aré yelled.

He felt a hand on his back and saw a can appear right before the contents of his stomach made a grand reappearance.

"Feel better?" Alfred asked.

"No," Bruce let Alfred lead him to a nearby chair where he took a seat. He couldn't believe he was acting like this.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Aré asked.

Bad news? There was bad news? "Bad news?"

"Okay, the bad news is he's going to be hurting like hell for a while."

Bruce felt his hopes rise, "and the good news."

"He's going to make it. He doesn't appear to have broken his skull. It looks like he hit something which caused a deep cut but that's all it is. He's going to need stitches. I am concerned about his unconsciousness. How long has he been out?"

Bruce thought about it. Calculating how long it had taken him to get here and he'd been driving like a bat out of Hell. "Half an hour."

"I'm going to keep an eye on him because of his head injury. I need to make sure his brain isn't swelling nor is there any blood on his brain. I'm going to need help undressing him and wrapping his chest. He's got a couple of broken ribs. From what I can tell he doesn't have any internal bleeding. I would like to run him under a scanner just to make sure though."

Considering some of his own injuries from time to time Bruce had all of the medical equipment Aré needed right in the cave.

Bruce watched Aré work. After stitching up the head wound he and Alfred carefully removed the suit from Terry and went about cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Bruce watched everything from where he sat numbly. Terry had yet to regain consciousness, something which worried Bruce to no end. He really wanted to hear some kind of smart ass remark from the kid. Hell he'd take a groan of pain, _something!_ He lost all sense of time as he watched Alfred and Aré tend Terry.

"Let's get you out of this suit and cleaned up."

Bruce looked up at Alfred before he nodded and stood to allow the man to help him out of his own armor. Normally such a thing was not needed. Bruce was just so tired right now.

"He's in shock," he heard Aré say quietly.

After changing out of his armor Bruce went to sit beside Terry.

Aré kneeled down before him. "Are you going to be alright Bruce?"

Bruce nodded slowly, watching the rise and fall of Terry's bandaged chest. "You knew, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"

Aré sighed, "What good would it have done you? I found the kid after you came to see me that night." Bruce turned his gaze to his uncle's face. There was more the man wasn't telling him. "He is descended from Gaia. I didn't lie about that. I just didn't tell you when he was from. I had to hide him. The Council wanted to hunt him down and kill him for coming through time. I couldn't allow that to happen so I fabricated everything about him."

"Is his name even Terry?"

"Yeah, his last name's not Friedle though."

"What is it?"

"That's dangerous for you to know."

"I already know what he looks like." Bruce felt himself getting angry now. "Why the hell did you lie to me? Did you think I wouldn't be responsible? Please tell me this isn't because you think you have to protect me. I know the laws of your kind," Aré flinched slightly, "better than anyone. If you've forgotten I've been through time before too. The timeline got so screwed up everything nearly ended. Remember? I've seen the future once Aré. You were already dead. I watched Terry die. Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it? Even after John and I got back and were summoned before the Fae Council we held our own. I don't need you protecting me."

Aré stood to his full height. Bruce had to look up at him from where he was sitting. The look in the other man's eye made Bruce's blood run cold. This wasn't his uncle standing before him now. It was the Crown Prince of the Fae and Bruce could almost feel the air sizzling from the force of the power Aré was keeping contained. When Aré got like this, truthfully it scared the hell out of Bruce.

When Aré spoke it was in his native tongue. _"I know you can take care of yourself and maybe I should have told you about Terry but I didn't want you any more involved than you needed to be. Plausible deniability. I didn't want you in trouble. The only other being in this world who knows where Terry is truly from is my father and I would have liked to have kept it that way. Now though,"_ Aré shook his head. _"Don't do anything stupid Bruce like trying to get any more information from either of us. You try to get any information about Terry or where he's from and I'll make sure you never see him until he's actually born."_

And Aré would do it too, of that Bruce had no doubt. "I don't think Terry came back alone."

Switching back to English, "What do you mean?"

"The break in at the lab. Joker wasn't alone. He had two people with him I've never seen before. One of them was dressed in a suit of armor which allowed him to send out sound waves as a form of attack. I've never seen anything like it. The other one was a woman, I think, who was like a black version of Clayface only not so clay like. She had the same reaction to water Clayface does." Bruce rubbed at his eyes. "Did they come back at the same time or was there another rift?"

"There was another rift," Aré answered. "I felt it the other night. I've been trying to track down the location but it dissipated too quickly. That's part of the reason I was looking for Terry. I was stupid enough to let him know what had happened. Stupid kid must have found his suit."

"What else aren't you telling me?"

"A lot."

Bruce felt a migraine coming on. "This is why you didn't want Terry to stay with me all those months ago. You were afraid I'd find out about him."

"I wanted to keep him close to me."

Something Aré had said earlier suddenly came to mind. He said not to try to get information from either of them. "You're lying to me right now. You came back too. That's why you had no idea you had to be in Gaia for the meeting."

Aré's stiffening was confirmation enough.

"Why didn't you just go back to your own time? Keep this mess from happening?

"Don't you think I've tried?" Aré asked angrily, "I've tried and on more than one occasion to send us back. I can't travel time."

That shocked Bruce, "What do you mean? Are you losing your powers?"

Aré ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. All I know is I can't seem to be able to manipulate time. All of my other powers don't appear to be effected. I tried again after I felt the second rift. It's like something is blocking me. Only Gods know what though."

"And you didn't think _that_ was important information?"

"Not really. They're my powers Bruce. They go out of whack and it's my problem."

"Right, and when nutcases from the future show up it becomes my problem. What's next? Homicidal Fae family reunion? "

Bruce knew he's struck a nerve when a glint of power shot up Aré's right arm like lightening. The man leaned down placing his hands on the arm rests and forcing Bruce further back into his chair. Aré's eyes glowed white. _"Don't think you can order me around boy. I take orders from no one except my father. I am not a child Bruce so quit thinking you can order me around like one. If I have to I am more than willing to lock you away until this is over."_

Fear raced up Bruce's spine. Anyone who ever said Batman wasn't afraid of anything hadn't met his uncle. Damn but the Fae could be downright scary. Wet your pants and cry for your mother scary.

"All right," Bruce said more calmly than he felt, "sorry."

Aré stood back up and the glow to his eyes vanished. "I'm handling this Bruce. When I need your help I will ask for it. Until then stay out of it." Aré turned to leave.

"Question," the look Aré gave Bruce when he turned around made Bruce glad he was sitting down, "what if those two I saw with Joker come back? What am I supposed to do? Run away?"

Aré sighed, "No I suppose not. When Terry wakes up we'll ask him what he knows about them. Until then just… Sit and watch the kid." The tension remained even after Aré left the cave.

"That was probably not the wisest move on your part," Alfred said after a few minutes of silence.

Honestly in all of the arguing Bruce had forgotten Alfred was even there. His argument still stood. He had a right to know all of this.

"I'm not sure you even realize what you said to him."

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked. He knew exactly what was said. Obviously Aré didn't trust him with the truth and that hurt.

"Master Bruce if I may be so bold I do not believe Master Aré's anger stems from Master Terrance's condition or the fact you found out. I believe it is from what you said about him."

Bruce shot Alfred a questioning look.

"You used terms like 'your kind' and 'homicidal Fae.' You know how he feels about being reminded of his hybrid status and that he is different."

Oh shit, Alfred was right. Bruce hadn't been thinking when he'd spoken. He'd just felt so angry that he'd done what he could to strike back verbally. Placing his head in his hands Bruce rubbed at his temples. "Hell of a day, huh Alfred."

Alfred patted Bruce's shoulder. "You watch Master Terrance. I will be back in a little bit to check on you."

Alfred left leaving Bruce alone in the cave with Terry. He had a migraine the size of Texas and it seemed to only be getting worse. Looking back at Terry he hoped the boy would wake up soon. The longer he was out the more likely he had brain damage and since he wasn't related there wasn't anything Aré could do to help heal him faster. "Wake up Terry. I can't do this again. Though maybe you do have the right idea by sleeping through all the drama and one pissed off Halfling. You think I can be scary. Just hope you never have to see that."

Still no response from the boy. With a heavy sigh Bruce settled himself in for a long watch.


	9. Eight: Glimpse into the Future

_**Eight: Glimpse into the Future**_

Terry awoke to a splitting headache and to the feeling like someone had danced on his chest in heels then decided to use him as a punching bag just for some extra fun. Or maybe it was a battering ram. Didn't matter, whatever he had been used for left him feeling like hell. Oh, did he ever hurt.

He opened his eyes only to slam them shut right afterwards. The lights made his head pound worse and his stomach did flips. He let out a groan of pain and wanted to take it back right afterwards. Even that hurt. His chest was on fire, it hurt to breathe. He'd never felt this much pain before. _God please, someone put me out of my misery._

"Easy Terry," he heard Bruce's voice off to the side of him. The man was whispering but even that was too loud. There was the sound of movement before something sharp was pressed to his neck and he heard something hiss. "That should help."

No, all it did was make his head pound worse. "What was that?" he asked. His words were slurred so it came out more like, "wha uz at?"

"Morphine," Bruce answered. "Give it a few minutes and you should start to feel better."

Terry doubted it. With the amount of pain he was in nothing short of unconsciousness or death was going to make it go away. Right now he'd take either one. Forcing himself to concentrate on his breathing and not the earth shattering pain he was in he waited for the morphine to take effect. As Bruce had said, after a few minutes the pain began to lessen. Terry attempted to open his eyes again.

This time when he did so the lights appeared to have been dimmed even further and they didn't hurt his head as much as they had before. He kept his eyes squinted a bit while he looked around as he tried to remember what had happened to him to cause such pain.

His head hurt and it itched like crazy. If he didn't know any better he'd say he had a couple of broken ribs. Maybe he did, it would explain why it hurt to breathe. He turned his head carefully to the right and saw Bruce sitting there. The worried expression on the man's face didn't help. "What happened?"

Bruce wrung out a cloth and wiped at Terry's sweaty forehead. Wow, he hadn't noticed before that he'd had a fever. "I'm sure your head feels like it's about to explode. I'll ask you what happened once the feeling goes away."

What was he talking about? It was then Terry noticed the large computer behind Bruce. It was on standby which explained why there wasn't much light coming from the monitors. He'd seen that computer many times before.

Terry's eyes flew wide open and he tried to sit up and move away from his father. Pain shot across his entire being, setting his nerves aflame. He cried out.

"Don't move," Bruce growled. "You are lucky to be alive. I was beginning to worry you weren't going to wake up. Damn it Terry, what the hell were you thinking?"

Everything came back to him then. The call over the police scanner about a break in at the chemical lab. His going over and finding Inkque, Shriek and the Joker. Running into his father. Being thrown against the wall by one of Shriek's blasts, the skull splitting pain in his head before the world around him went dark. Oh dear God or Gods above, Aré was going to kill him.

No, he wasn't going to simply kill him. Aré was going to torture him painfully before killing him. Then he'd bring him back to life and kill him again. "I'm a dead man," he groaned, easing back down on the bed.

"No, but you are lucky to be alive and without any kind of brain damage. You've been out for hours Terry."

Bruce sounded worried. The guy was never worried, in either time. He tried to turn his head towards Bruce again only to feel a sharp pain. He tried to reach up to feel his head but his busted ribs wouldn't allow the movement. "What happened to me?"

"You have a cracked skull, a concussion, broken ribs, whip lash of all things, and various cracked bones all across your body. You almost ended up in a full body cast. At least, that's what Aré wanted to put you in. Said it would keep you from getting into more trouble that way."

"How pissed is he?"

"Very," Bruce actually shuttered. "If there's one thing to fear on this earth it's a pissed off Fae."

"He's going to kill me slowly and painfully." Though he doubted anything could compare to the amount of pain he was in at the moment.

"I've thought that about myself over the years," Bruce said. "So I guess you've known about my night ventures ever since you got here."

"Yeah, but it's been fun. You're not as cranky here as you are in my time. Here I actually like you."

Something flashed over Bruce's face before the other man masked his expression.

"How much do you know?" Terry asked.

"I know you should be resting right now. As for what your question originally meant, not much. Aré hasn't told me squat except 'I'll take care of it.' That man is so stubborn."

"Runs in the family," Terry quipped.

Bruce actually smiled. "I guess it does. How's the pain?"

"Getting better," and it was, slowly. "What happened after…?"

"Joker and those other two got away with whatever chemicals they'd grabbed. I didn't take the time to check, your head was bleeding pretty badly. I was more worried about you than I was about them."

That brought to mind something Terry wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "If I die here, do I die in the future?"

Bruce's expression darkened and Terry took that to mean that if he died, then he was dead no matter what time period he was in. "Honestly, I don't know. If I had to guess I'd say yes."

"You? Guess?" Terry tried one more time to sit up and with Bruce's help finally made it into a sitting position. His head spun but he managed not to throw up.

"Here," Bruce handed him a small glass with some kind of dark liquid in it. "Drink this, it'll help."

"What is it?"

"An herbal remedy Aré made. It'll help you heal faster."

"Or kill me. Did I mention he was going to kill me?"

"Well you're obviously not dying since your sarcasm is still there."

Terry felt himself beginning to smile. Figuring what the hell he was dead anyway he downed what was in the glass. He gagged afterwards. Whatever that was should be illegal. Cruel and unusual punishment, it was _vile_. He coughed, "what…?"

"I know, nasty stuff but it works."

Terry felt his pain decrease some more. Actually it felt like some of his ribs were going back into place. Weird but if it meant he could breathe without wanting to die he'd take it. Very slowly so as not to aggravate his injuries Terry stretched his arms. There was a pop as something went back into place. He took mental stock of his injuries. There were bruises littered all over him. Bringing a hand up to his head he felt the stitches and… "Where's my hair?"

Bruce looked away and what the duce? He was _laughing!_ "He had to shave it off so he could stitch up your wound."

Running his hands over his head he found he was completely bald. He wasn't what one would consider vain but his _hair_? He was too young to be bald.

Now Bruce did laugh aloud. "Don't worry, it'll grow back."

"Yeah but now I look like a freak."

"You are a freak."

Both men turned towards the new voice. The closer Aré got to them the faster Terry was counting down the time he had left to live. "Listen Aré I—"

"Don't Terry. I know why you did it. I'm not happy but I figure you've had punishment enough."

"I am sorry."

"No you're not. Foolish as it is I probably would have done the same thing in your place. I know why you did it. If they'd killed Bruce there then you would vanish too."

_For more than one reason._ Terry thought. If Bruce knew he was from the future then had Aré told him about Terry being Bruce's son? Probably not since the old man hadn't mentioned it. That hurt a little. He wasn't sure why but it did.

"How are you feeling?" Aré asked.

"Like I was used as a battering ram after someone River Danced on my chest. Or, what were those things people used to use to measure a person's injuries during a car wreck?"

"Crash test dummy?"

"Yeah, that's what I feel like."

"It's what you look like too but I wasn't going to mention it."

"Thanks for shaving my head by the way."

"No problem. Shaved your eyebrows too and doodled with permanent marker. You make one hell of a sight."

Terry's hands instantly reached for his face. His eyebrows were where they should be. Terry wasn't sure he was joking about the marker though.

"Lay off him," Bruce said. He turned a stern expression on Terry. "You could have been killed today. Please tell me I teach you better than that and that you had a horrible lapse in judgment."

"I…" Terry trailed off; his head was starting to hurt again. "You don't teach me much of anything at least in fighting. I can't exactly spar with you."

"Why not?"

"Well," he almost said dad, "Bruce you're like, eighty… something. I think. You're not exactly spry."

The look that passed over Bruce's face was almost comical. Apparently dislike of being called old ran in the family too. He'd have to remember that.

Terry realized that as he sat there he was beginning to feel much better. The pain had become nothing more than a dull ache. His head also didn't feel like it wanted to explode. "What was in that stuff you made for me?" he asked Aré.

"You really don't want to know what I had to put into it. Couple of ground up bones from an infant, blood of a goat and a few other odds and ends."

Terry felt like he was going to be sick again.

"He's joking." Bruce hastily assured him.

"You sure?" Aré asked.

"Yes because I've watched you make it on more than one occasion." He turned to Terry, "Trust me there are no bones or blood or anything like that in it. It's all herbal."

"Well whatever, I'm going to use your computer." Aré moved to the sleeping device. The monitors came back on and Terry felt blinded by the light. Oh but concussions made one sensitive to light.

"Why?" Bruce asked.

"I want to see if I can send something from here to you in the future. Since I can't get back there under my own power I want to see if I can do it another way."

"Are you planning on building a time machine?" Terry asked. "Like your brother did?"

He saw Aré stiffen at that.

"Nakumaru did what?" Bruce asked.

Apparently Aré hadn't told Bruce that part. This day just kept getting better and better.

"Naku built a time machine, that's how those two you saw with Joker got here. There are more who came back though." Aré replied.

"How many? Who else?" Bruce demanded.

All total I'd say about six." Aré began to count off on his fingers, "There's Naku, Inque, uh…"

"Shriek, Spellbinder and Blight," Terry supplied.

"Right and the best one of all. My stepmother."

Bruce appeared to pale a little. "What's she planning?"

"I have no idea. All I know is she came back here to do it. She also wants you dead."

"What else is new?"

Aré shook his head while he typed away at the computer. "Just an average day for us."

Terry watched Aré put in some code to the computer. Now there was one thing he hated. Programming computers had never been his forte. Aré seemed to be going at it like a pro. After a while Terry found himself feeling tired again. The pain also seemed to be slowly coming back. Aré pounded the console in frustration.

"Stop hitting my computer."

"This isn't working. I can't interface your computer with your computer. I have to try this from another location."

"Where are you going to find another computer like this?" Terry asked.

"Justice League Tower." Bruce supplied. "That would probably be your best bet."

Aré slumped back in his chair. "Great just what I need. More people to know we've screwed with history."

"How do you know this isn't supposed to happen?" Terry asked.

"I've already lived this once. We changed history the moment we came back. I've been trying my damndest to fix this for months. I thought that if I kept Terry away from everyone in this time I wouldn't damage the timeline too much." He turned the chair to face them. The anguish he saw in Aré's expression tore at Terry. "I've screwed so much up. What if I can't fix this?"

Bruce looked as confused as Terry felt. Aré wasn't talking about their coming back in time. He was talking about something else. Bruce was the first to voice his thoughts, "what's happened?"

Terry didn't expect Aré to answer. He was surprised when the other man began to speak.

Aré's gaze was aimed at the floor. "There's a period in the future where I have to rule over Gaia for about twenty years. My father had gone missing along with Sora and Nakumaru. No one knew their whereabouts. Fighting broke out among the nobility and I did what I could to settle the unrest while trying to locate my father. The whole country wanted my father back on the throne and I couldn't say that I blamed them. I'm not much of a king. In trying to keep the peace I managed insight the Council against me along with a majority of the country, both human and Fae hated me. They found their inability to come to a rational decision about finding my father as my fault. 'Halfbreeds shouldn't rule' they said. I ceded rule to Izumi then left, never once looking back at the damage I had done. It was all because of—"

"If you say because you have mixed blood I'm going to hit you." Bruce growled.

"It's true though." Aré's voice had become soft. His whole demeanor spoke of someone who had already been defeated. "I've screwed so much up simply by being. Do you have any idea how many lives I've ruined? My parents, my sister, hell I killed my niece and countless others. The death toll on Gaia alone," he swallowed hard, "Bruce, we're almost extinct."

Shock ran through Terry. No wonder he hadn't wanted to think about any of it back in their time. He saw the same look of shock on Bruce's face.

"Why didn't you ask for help?"

Aré laughed, "I couldn't. 'No outsiders allowed.' 'Our affairs are not the concern of mortals.'" Terry realized Aré was crying when the man reached up to wipe at his eyes. "I have to get Terry back to his time safely Bruce and send the others with him. I have to make this right. This is killing me. I've screwed up again and I have no idea how to fix it."

"The fighting that broke out. Are you sure it was because of something you did?" Bruce seemed to be looking for another explanation. "You know as well as I do just how Sora is. The fighting most likely wasn't your fault. I wouldn't put it past her to pay someone to stir up trouble and blame it on you. They've done so before."

Right, that guy Aré had been framed for killing. Luckily they'd proven his innocence.

"Even if that's what happened I'm still the one they'll blame. I am… Was their ruler. I should have been able to stop it."

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

"It also didn't fall in a day." Aré stood. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Terry's going to need some more medicine." He looked at Terry, "Once you're feeling better we'll head for League headquarters. I may be able to find a way to send you all back before things get too out of hand. A few extra eyes and ears might help us find them faster."

Terry nodded, "Alright, I'm feeling better though already."

"It'll wear off soon, trust me."

Aré left them alone. Terry turned his attention back to Bruce. "Is he always so pessimistic?"

Bruce sighed, "Considering what he's been through I'm not surprised he's like that." He moved to the computer and began working. "I'm going to see if I can't program something to help him. God knows he needs everything he can get."

Terry agreed. Lying back down on the cot he let his eyes drift closed. The pain in his body was slowly coming back but nothing like it had been. He really wasn't looking forward to more 'medicine' but if it helped he'd suck it up and take it. For the first time in a long time Terry felt hope. They'd find a way for him to get home. He wondered how his mom and Matt were doing. _I hope they're not worried about me, _he thought.

"Hey Bruce," he called. The other man gave a grunt to acknowledge he'd heard Terry, "Do you think you'll remember this in my time?"

"That depends," Bruce answered, "when I was sent to the future my elder self had no recollection of ever traveling through time. It is possible but I can't say for certain."

"Will I remember?"

"That all depends on whether you return before you left."

That was confusing. "How does that work?"

"If Aré is able to return you to the point before you were sent back here then it will be as if none of this ever happened."

Grief tore at Terry. He didn't want that to happen. He wanted to keep the memories of the past few months. He'd been able to make friends and the bond he had with his father now was better than the one he'd had in his time. He didn't want to lose that.

* * *

Every couple of hours Aré would bring Terry another glass of his herbal medicine which Terry would drink, gag then go back to sleep. One thing they'd neglected to mention about the medicine was that it knocked one out. Terry couldn't ever remember sleeping as long as he did. At one point when he'd been awake enough he'd left the cave to sleep in his bed. It was better than the stupid cot. He'd had a fever for a while that had finally broken a few hours before. There was a slight tapping on the door before Aré entered the room with another dose of the vile drink.

"Feeling any better?" Aré asked as he sat on the bed beside Terry.

Terry rolled onto his back before sitting up. "Yeah, a bit. I still feel like I could sleep for a few years though."

"That's your body repairing itself. I didn't tell Bruce the worst of the damage done to you."

"What do you mean?"

"You had internal bleeding. You were so close to the shockwave it nearly shattered every bone in your body without you ever hitting the wall." He held out the glass for Terry. "This is what saved your life."

"Ground grass?" Terry asked skeptically.

"Partly, but mostly an ingredient I didn't tell Bruce was in there."

"Which is?" Terry started to down the liquid.

"My blood."

Terry gagged and this time it wasn't because of the taste. He looked at Aré with wide eyes then glared at the offending liquid. The glass was still about half full. Now he _really_ didn't want to drink it.

Not sure he wanted the answer he asked, "Why would you put your blood in this? What do I look like? A vampire?"

"No, but if you remember my blood can heal anyone descended from my sister. I purposefully cut my finger while I was stitching your head to help the swelling in your brain. There was so much blood on my hands Bruce never would have noticed. I have to give this to you in small increments so that your eyes don't change. Remember the less Bruce knows about you the better."

"And my eyes changing would be a dead giveaway." There Aré had a point. "How bad was I exactly?"

"If I hadn't given you my blood we wouldn't be having this conversation. The force that you hit the wall was like being at ground zero of a bomb blast. Bruce's moving you didn't help either but he didn't have any choice. That's partly the reason you were unconscious for so long, your brain had to stop swelling."

"Will I have brain damage? _Do_ I have brain damage?"

Aré shook his head. "You probably would have been a vegetable if I hadn't done what I did. Honesty Terry I haven't seen Bruce panic like that in a long time. I thought it best to tone down your injuries for him. Especially if, well, he does remember this when we get back. I don't want his elder self to have the memory of your death."

Terry finished off the drink, no matter how many times he had it, it still tasted horrible. He shuddered, "Ugh, couldn't you have at least made this taste better?"

Aré smiled, "Maybe but there's only so much flavor you can give grass. Oh and just so you know your hair will grow back completely in a couple of days."

Terry had already begun to notice his hair growing back. He'd hate to have to explain to his mom why he was bald. "What do you think is happening at home?"

"I don't know," Aré said honestly. "Bruce's been working on a program to hopefully lay dormant until it reaches our time. I've been dividing my time between working with him and checking on you."

"What do you plan on doing with that anyway?"

"Well my intention is basically to make a time machine program. I don't even know how to begin explaining it except what it should do, and I emphasize _should_, is contact his computer in the future and allow us to talk to each other. It's pretty difficult but I have faith in Bruce's skills. He once reprogrammed some guy's time belt from your time and that was only having been there for a few hours. Give or take, time is relative."

And it was giving Terry a headache. He rubbed at his eyes. "So when do we leave?"

"Once you're feeling better."

Wow, Terry didn't expect that Aré was going to let him go with them. "You mean I get to go with you?"

"Why not? You are the best source of information concerning the baddies from your time. If we can't contact Bruce in the future we'll have to go on your information. Besides, if he doesn't remember anything that's going on here and we do get a hold of him he's going to want to know you're all right. Last time Bruce went to the future his elder self had no memory of it ever happening."

That was exactly what Bruce had told him earlier. He stretched, "Well I'm feeling much better now so let's get going."

Aré laughed, "Yeah, no. You still look like you'd puke out a lung if you stood up right now. You still need rest and to heal. Maybe tomorrow. Besides, we're not done with the computer program yet." Aré took the glass from Terry and stood. "Get some more rest. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

Terry began to feel the effects of the medicine. His eyes began to droop again. Uh, this sucked. Lying back down he let sleep take hold once again.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Bruce asked Aré once he returned to the cave.

"Much better," Aré replied moving to stand behind Bruce's chair. "He should be one hundred percent by tomorrow."

"That's good."

Aré watched as Bruce continued to work on the computer program. Bruce still looked tense. "Is something bothering you?" he asked.

Bruce stopped typing and leaned back in his chair. "I just have a really bad feeling. I know this is all going to come to a head at some point. Ever since I saw Terry beaten up like that I've had this feeling of dread that I can't seem to shake."

"I'll find some way to fix this," Aré tried to reassure his nephew.

Bruce spun the chair around to face him. "You think I blame you for what's happened?"

"Why not? Everyone else does."

"Anyone who blames you for this is a fool. If there is anyone who should be blamed it's your stepmother. That woman's a bitch with a capital 'b'."

Aré felt an eyebrow rise. "Wow Bruce, hostile much?"

"Considering everything she has done and will end up doing I think I was being pretty nice."

This was not a conversation he wanted to get into. "How's the program coming?" he asked, changing the subject.

Bruce allowed the change, turning back to the computer. "So far so good. It will require a little bit of your magic though."

"How's that going to work? I can't travel time, remember."

"You can't but maybe you can open a way small enough for the electronic signal to get through. All I'll need you to do is touch the computer and do whatever it is you do to travel time."

Which wasn't something he had done often. On the few occasions he had done so he'd gone simply as an observer. He'd never allowed himself to interfere with the timeline. Until now.

"I'll give it a shot." The jury was still out as to whether or not it would work.

* * *

Terry's recovery was quicker than anyone had expected. His hair had nearly grown back to its original length, something Terry was more than happy about. One of the first things he had done once he was able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time was check out his suit. Luckily it hadn't been damaged in the fight. He had no idea how he was going to fix the thing if anything happened to it.

Currently decked out in his suit he walked with Bruce, well Batman, through the corridors of the Justice League Tower. The first time he had gotten a glimpse out of the large windows and seen the Earth below he'd nearly had a heart attack. Knowing the Tower was in space and actually being in space were two completely different things. There was also the matter of teleporting from the surface of the Earth to the tower. Honestly he never wanted to do that again in his life.

He was wisely keeping his mouth shut in the sense he wasn't speaking. His constant gaping though at all the hero's he was passing was another matter. Batman had eventually glared at him and told him to knock it off. They were getting enough looks as it was, given his suit and all, and they really didn't need any more attention from Terry's gaping.

He remembered Aré's warning before they had left.

_"Before you go there's something's you should know."_

_ "Like what?"_

_ "First off, you already know how good Clark's hearing is. He's not the only one on that Tower with good hearing. Also, whatever you do don't even think about Bruce being your father. J'onn can read minds."_

_ "J'onn?"_

_ "The Martian Manhunter. He doesn't read minds without cause but if you think it hard enough he will hear it. I suggest keeping your mind completely blank."_

_ "Right, no mention of who my dad is and keep my mind blank. Gotcha."_

As they turned another corner Terry came to an immediate halt. Standing talking to each other was the rest of the original six. Terry felt his heart begin to pound. Holy shit what was he walking into?

"Bats!" Flash called, speeding over to them. "How's it goin'?" He looked back and forth between them. "Wow, Aré wasn't kidding when he said there were two of you."

Batman ignored him, "Where is my errant uncle?"

Superman pointed over his shoulder, "To the galley I think. Said he was going to need a lot of caffeine."

Batman and Terry both groaned. They knew exactly what Aré was like when he had too much sugar and/or caffeine in his system. "You brought a trank right?" he asked Batman.

"Don't have one strong enough."

"Damn."

Flash slung an arm across his shoulders, "You have a sense of humor?"

"Yeah… why?"

"It's good to know that not all Bats are sticks in the mud."

"Have you met his uncle?" he asked sarcastically.

Flash seemed to think about that, "Good point." He started dragging Terry with him. "I think I'm gonna like you."

"Um… thanks."

"I've already secured a room for you to use." J'onn said.

Terry had to look up at the Martian Manhunter. And he meant _up_. He didn't realize the man, or alien, was so tall. He looked at each of the others gathered. They were all tall. Why couldn't he have gotten his height from his father? He got screwed in that deal.

"It's good to see you again." John said, extending a hand.

"We've met before?" he asked, shaking the offered hand.

"I guess _we_ haven't but I have seen you before."

"Okay, creepy but okay."

"I guess some things don't change."

"What do you mean?"

"You were just as sarcastic last time we met."

"He's not exactly the same boy you met John." Aré said coming up behind them with a large cup in his hand. "Same time period but thankfully that branch of time doesn't exist anymore."

Aré was wearing the same kind of outfit he had been wearing when Terry had first met him. The only real difference was the color of his coat and that it had sleeves. The black trench hung on his body the same way it had before. The coat was open to reveal a navy shirt which only came down to about mid chest and low hanging black leather pants. His black knee high boots clicked on the metal floor as he walked.

He stopped paying attention to what the others were saying. Terry's eyes roamed over all those gathered in the hall. He'd known and seen them all in history clips, Bruce and Clark he'd met personally, but to see them all in the height of their youth was amazing. What he couldn't get over was Diana, or Wonder Woman. She was probably one of the tallest women he'd ever seen and the amount of clothing, or lack thereof, should have been illegal. How did someone fight in high heels anyway? He was just glad his cowl covered his eyes. His scrutiny would probably be considered stalkerish.

"Stop oogling the Amazon."

Terry blinked and focused his attention back on Aré. "Huh, what?"

"I said, stop oogling the Amazon."

All heads turned to him. He shook his head, glad once again for the cowl because he could feel his face heating up, "No wait, I wasn't… um…"

"He's going to be fun isn't he?" Flash asked.

"You have no idea Flash." Aré replied.

"Enough stalling," Batman said. He pushed past them all and went into the room at the end of the hallway.

Moving out of Flash's grip Terry followed after him. Once everyone was inside and the door secured Batman sat at the computer and began to implement the program he had created. Aré stood at his side leaning against the computer sipping from his large drink.

"What do you have in there?" Batman asked.

"Thirty-two ounces of Code Red, why?"

"There should be a law that says you can't drink Mountain Dew."

"There should also be one that says you need to lighten up." Aré leaned down towards his nephew, his eyes glowing slightly. "I can arrange that for you if you'd like."

"Are they always like this?" he asked Superman. While he had been in this time for several months and seen this kind of banter between the two he hadn't ever seen it while they were in costume. It was kind of creepy to see Batman acting like this.

"All the time unless the situation is serious. Honestly I think it keeps them both sane. Though crazy does run in their family."

"We can hear you." Aré said.

"I know." Superman said with a smile.

"You're an ass."

"No, I'm a strange visitor from another planet," he extended a hand, "pleased to meet you."

"I take that back, you're a dork."

"Guilty."

Aré shook his head and laughed. "I never realized how much I missed you all."

"You can catch up later." Batman interrupted. He pointed to the computer. "Lay hands on, work magic."

"Yes dad." Terry wasn't sure if Aré could have put any more sarcasm into that statement if he tried.

Placing one hand on the computer Aré closed his eyes and concentrated while Batman worked with the program. The small webcam above them lit up. Terry moved to stand behind Batman, (_weird much?_) to see what he was doing. None of the code he saw made any sense to him. Instead he looked at Aré who's hair was moving as if from a breeze though he knew there was no breeze around. A glow emanated from under the hand that was touching the computer. His eyes snapped open and Terry was a little weirded out to see Aré's iris' glowing. His head turned to the computer screen.

Batman continued to type away. The screen image changed, becoming dark.

"Did it work?" Terry asked.

The image sharpened then cleared to show the cave. Bruce's chair was occupied by the elder version of the man. Terry began to grin. It had worked. His smile began to fade as he noticed that the elder Bruce wasn't alone. Dick and Barbara were off to the side yet it was the person standing beside Bruce that got his attention. It was one of the last people he'd expected to see. He ripped off his cowl.

_"Mom!"_


	10. Nine: Look into the Past

_**Nine: Look into the Past**_

_ 2047_

Bruce sat staring blankly at the computer screen while he waited for news from Barbara about anything found in the wreckage of Gotham Park Towers. It had been days since the explosion and collapse of the building. The search beneath the rubble had so far yielded very little. Before the building had completely collapsed Barbara and Dick had managed to move Kane from where he had been held. He was now sleeping in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Bruce hadn't asked how they'd gotten the man from the Towers without anyone noticing and he didn't plan to.

Bruce had been one of the first to place financial backing in helping with the cleanup. Not only had the original building gone down but it had taken out or damaged several of the surrounding buildings. Some members of the board weren't too happy to have their money placed in the effort. Public Relations had placed a good spin on the backing. Bruce didn't care about any of that. He had family buried under there damn it! Not that anyone would ever know about it.

The other thing he had been dreading was explaining things to Terry's mother. It wasn't unusual for her not to see Terry for days on end given their schedules but now she was beginning to get worried. She had called Bruce a couple of times inquiring on Terry's whereabouts. How the hell was he going to tell her their son was dead? Was he even dead? That's what aggravated Bruce more, he didn't have any answers.

Their son, what a concept. Ace wined from where he sat beside Bruce. Absently Bruce reached over to pet the dog's head. What the hell was he doing anyway? Wallowing in self-pity? Bruce shook himself; this wasn't like him at all. He wasn't someone to ever let worry bring him down. _Man up,_ he thought. Rising from his chair he headed upstairs.

He found Dick pacing back and forth while talking on the phone when he arrived in the library. Dick was mostly listening and giving monosyllable answers. Bruce waited patiently for the younger man to finish his call.

Dick spotted him, held up a hand, "Uh huh, alright bye." He flipped the phone closed. "That was Barbara. The workers managed to get into the basement."

Bruce felt his stomach knot in anticipation. He also wasn't too keen on Dick's tone of voice, he sounded upset. "And?" he prompted.

"So far they haven't found anything. They did find the remains of some kind of machine. My guess is it's the time machine Naku was building. As for," Dick refrained from using the word they dreaded, "anything else, nothing. Barbara did say that given the damage there may not be anything to find."

Bruce was afraid of that. If Terry and Aré were dead and there wasn't anything left for them to bury he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it. If there was something to find the fallout would be enormous and not just for him. _Please don't be dead,_ he prayed again.

"Do you think they may have gotten it working?" Dick asked. "What if they were sent back?"

"It's possible," Bruce had thought long and hard about it.

"Would you remember anything if they had?"

Bruce shook his head, "Not necessarily. There are a lot of unknown variables with time travel. The time that Diana, John and I went back and forth only John and I remembered anything. Diana forgot because at one point, she either ceased to exist or never left the island."

"I'm with Aré on this, time travel sucks."

Bruce had to agree. "Has there been any change with Kane?"

This time it was Dick who shook his head. "Nothing. He just lays there. I've tried everything I can think of. I've shaken, smacked and even used smelling salts. Nada. Whatever is keeping him under is doing a damn good job. Too bad we didn't have anyone around who could figure out what's keeping him down."

"Any magic users we know outside of the Fae wouldn't be able to help. Their magic is different from what the Fae use."

"Why is that again?"

Bruce shrugged, "Different world originally, different rules."

"Which explains why Aré never has to use spells or give something in exchange."

"Exactly."

Dick nearly fell into the couch as he sat, the cushions making him bounce. "So essentially we have to find a Fae willing to help us for find out where Aré went. Great," he sighed. "Have you thought about the other thing?"

Bruce took the seat opposite Dick. "Some. I'm just not sure… I would like more definitive evidence before I say anything." He ran a hand over his face, "but I may not have that option."

"What are you going to do?"

"I—" The doorbell ringing cut Bruce off. He and Dick exchanged looks before Dick stood to answer the door.

"Can I help you?" he heard Dick ask.

"I'm looking for Mr. Wayne," answered a feminine voice.

Bruce felt a headache coming on. This was not what he needed right now. Standing he went to the door. "What do you want Maxine?"

"Where's Terry?" asked the dark skinned girl.

Bruce shrugged, "your guess is as good as mine."

"He and Aré haven't been to school in three days. I'm worried, Mai's worried, Terry's mom keeps calling to see if I've seen him. I know they went to the Towers. Please tell me they weren't in there when the explosion happened."

If only Bruce could. Max was worried for her friend he could see that. She didn't need the cold shoulder right now. "I don't know," he said honestly. "We've been trying to find out ever since it happened."

"Uh Bruce…?" Dick asked.

He waved a hand, "She is one of Terry's friends and she knows about what he does." He motioned for her to come in. "Join our worry party."

Max raised an eyebrow but followed them inside and back to the library. Bruce and Dick retook their seats. "Where is Mai anyway?" He hadn't been able to contact her for a while.

"She disappeared the other day. I haven't seen her in school either."

"Disappeared how?" Dick asked.

Max shrugged as she took a seat beside Dick. "What do you mean?"

"Disappear as in not show up or disappear as in poof?" Bruce clarified.

Max seemed to think about it. "I guess poof. One minute I was talking to her and the next she was gone. I'd only turned away for a second but I figured that since she's known you guys for so long that she'd mastered the art of the disappearing act."

"Do you think?" Dick asked.

"Makes sense." Bruce replied.

Max raised a hand, "Uh confused over here. Think what?"

Bruce turned her attention to her. "Mai is originally from the same island Aré is from. She would still retain the ability to travel back and forth from there. I have that ability as well and so will Terry. She may have gone there to try to get help from the Fae."

"And their help helps us how?"

"We have Aré's father upstairs. If Mai can convince someone to see him and wake him up I know Kane will help us."

"You talk as if Mai has a slim chance in hell."

"Mai's human. Not a lot of the Fae nobility will talk to let alone help a human. They may not take her word that their king has been located. Especially if the news comes from a human."

"Alright, but what about Terry?"

"We are still trying to figure that out."

"Do you think…? Do you think he's dead?"

The possibility of their deaths was not something Bruce wanted to think about. "While it is possible I hold out hope that they aren't. You should go home Max. I will let you know if we find anything."

She gave him a skeptical look. "You promise?"

"Absolutely. I would not keep something this important from you."

She seemed pleased with that. She stood, "Call me the minute you find something."

Bruce nodded.

Max looked as if she wanted to say something more but instead she let herself out.

"Now what?" Dick asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Now…" Bruce stood, "I make a call I should have made a while ago."

* * *

Bruce wasn't sure how many times he had picked up the phone; start to dial only to hang up. How exactly was he to explain what was going on?

Chiding himself the picked the phone up again and this time dialed the number fully. The line rang a couple of times before someone picked up.

_"Hello?"_ asked a young male voice.

Guessing it was Terry's younger brother, Matt, Bruce replied, "Hello Matthew is your mother home?"

_"Yeah I guess. Mom!"_

Bruce had to move the phone away from his ear for a second. Did the boy really have to yell with the phone right by his mouth?

He heard Mary reply then Matt said again, _"I don't know. It's some guy asking for you."_

There was the sound of the phone being handed over before Mary spoke, _"Hello."_

"Hello Ms. McGinnis, this is Bruce Wayne."

_"Oh hello Mr. Wayne. Have you seen Terry?"_

Bruce wished he could tell her he had. "Unfortunately, no. The reason I called was I was wondering if you would be able to come to the manor. There is something I need to discuss with you."

_"Has Terry done something?"_

Why would she jump to that conclusion? "This is not a subject I wish to discuss over the phone."

He heard her sigh, _"Alright, I can be there in about half an hour. Is that okay?"_

"That is fine. I will see you soon."

Bruce hung up the phone to await the inevitable.

"Barbara's here," Dick said coming up behind Bruce with said woman not too far behind.

Barbara looked as haggard as Bruce felt. She pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

"I thought you were still at the sight of the Towers." Bruce said.

Barbara gave a tired sigh. "I had to get out of there for a little while. Watching the workers clear the rubble I feel like I'm about to have a stroke from the anxiety of them even finding bodies. If there's anything to find…"

Bruce knew full well the ramifications of anyone finding bodies. That wasn't what he feared though. "I don't think I can bury them," he admitted.

"What are we going to do if they are…?"

Bruce voiced something he did not want to admit, "I don't know."

* * *

Mary arrived little over half an hour later. The whole time Bruce waited he ran through his mind what he was going to say. Nothing seemed right. How did one reveal such a secret to the mother of their son? How could he possibly tell Mary that he was the father of her children? The idea of even attempting to explain it gave him a headache.

There was also the other item, the one he had originally called her about. He didn't want to worry her but he didn't have a choice. Running his fingers through his hair Bruce heard the sound of a car door closing. He met Mary and Matt at the entrance to the manor.

Mary looked haggard which wasn't surprising since her eldest had been missing for days. He motioned for her to come inside.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked.

Bruce hesitated. Now that the moment had come he wasn't sure he could go through with it. It was in him to protect, not hurt. He knew what he was going to tell her was going to hurt her.

"It's about Terry's job," he said at last.

Mary looked confused. Matt, meanwhile, was looking around the foyer in awe. Bruce led them towards the library.

"I don't understand. What's there about Terry's job that you couldn't talk about over the phone?"

"It would probably be best if I showed you."

Mary and Matt exchanged looks. They followed him as he went over to the clock and triggered the latch to open the entrance to the cave.

"Secret passage, schway," Matt said.

"Something like that," Bruce said. "Be careful, it's a bit dark where we're going."

Mary took hold of Matt's hand. Bruce could see the dread in Mary's eyes though her expression remained calm. He admired her strength.

"What's going on Mr. Wayne?"

The further down the stairs the more lights were triggered by their movements. They came to the ledge that overlooked the cave and Bruce heard a sharp intake of breath from Mary.

"Dear God…"

Once in the cave proper Bruce turned around to face her. "Terry isn't simply my errand boy Mrs. McGinnis. That's mostly a cover."

Realization dawned in her eyes. The hand holding Matt's squeezed tighter while her other came up to cover her mouth. Matt's expression was one of complete awe, his jaw having gone slack.

"Terry's…" her eyes roved over the cave once more, "Batman."

"Yes."

This time it was horror which invaded her features. "But Batman was last known to have been at Gotham Park Towers. The explosion…"

Bruce looked away. His heart heavy he said, "Terry was in there when it happened."

Mary's blood curdling scream echoed throughout the cave, causing Bruce to flinch. Bats flew from their perch, screeching their own loss.

"Mom?" Matt asked.

Tears fell freely from Mary's eyes. She looked at her youngest with such a profound sadness that it made Bruce physically ache. He felt her loss as well.

This time when she turned back to him anger burned in her gaze. Bruce didn't even try to defend himself when Mary lunged at him. A feral shriek came from her as she hit Bruce across the face, "You bastard! You killed my son!"

Bruce tasted blood in his mouth. He deserved this really, Terry had been his son too and he had led the boy to his death. Terry would have been fine if Bruce had put his foot down at the beginning and forbidden the boy to do as he wished.

_Wayne stubbornness,_ he heard Aré's voice echo. That hit Bruce like a physical blow, not only had he lost his son he'd lost his uncle as well.

Bruce felt his own tears well and fall. "Terry was like my son, I would never—"

"Don't you dare say that to me! Terry wasn't yours; you had no right to make him do this!"

He couldn't _make_ Terry do anything, not really. "This was his choice."

"Right, it was his choice to die because _you_ couldn't let go of the past." She pointed to the cases which held their costumes. "You're insane, certifiable."

"You aren't the only one to feel this loss," he growled.

Mary continued to punch at Bruce. Sobs racked her body making her hits weaker. "He was my son, my baby. You killed my baby!"

"I'm sorry," Bruce said weakly.

"That's all you have to say to me. 'I'm sorry.' That's not good enough. Nothing can ever make up for what you've done. Matt—" Her tears began anew. Looking back at her youngest Mary went over to him and held him.

Bruce looked at the young boy. Matt was the spitting image of his father, Thomas Wayne. After learning Terry was his son Bruce had been able to see the physical similarities between himself and the boy. How had he missed this all sooner? Would it have made a difference if he'd known beforehand?

_Probably not_, and he hated himself for it.

"Terry's gone?" Matt asked weakly. He seemed shell shocked. "Why?"

Bruce had no explanations for either of them. He would take the blame; it wouldn't be the first time one of his charges had been hurt while under his watch. First Tim, now Terry.

_"Tim meet Terry. Hey that rhymes with Tom and Jerry. Tim, Tom. Terry, Jerry."_ Aré's voice once again echoed through Bruce's mind almost like a memory. What?

He saw Barbara and Dick approaching them. Sympathy shone in both their expressions. Barbara went over to Mary and knelt beside her while she cried.

"Commissioner?" Mary asked.

Barbara gave Mary a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

"That's all everyone keeps saying." Mary cast another glare at Bruce. "I want him arrested, he murdered my son."

Barbara shook her head. "I can't do that."

Mary looked aghast. "Why not? That's why you're here isn't it?"

Barbara's looked briefly at her old Batgirl costume before looking back at Mary. "This isn't Bruce's fault. Though you may want it to be, it's not."

It didn't feel that way to Bruce.

"If you're not here for that then why are you here?"

"Bruce never forced any of us into this life." Dick went over to his Nightwing costume. "Hell, he more than anyone tried to keep us _out_ of it. We didn't listen and when things went bad we blamed him. It's been a long time but we've come to realize that while we want to blame him for revealing this to us it all came down to being our choice to live this way. Terry is no different. If Bruce hadn't given the knowledge and means Terry would probably have died a long time ago." He turned away from the case. "Bruce taught us how to defend ourselves, how to survive. It's dangerous but it's what _we_ choose."

"You honestly think Terry got to choose?

"We do," Barbara said. "We all had our reasons for starting this life. For me it was to free my father from a false accusation."

"I was only a child when I lost my parents," Dick said. "I wanted vengeance so bad I could taste it. After Bruce took me in I didn't know it at first but he had been out nearly every night trying to track down their killer. Thinking no one cared I took it upon myself to find Zucco. I made a mistake in doing that with no knowledge. If Bruce, Batman, hadn't saved me I would have drowned in the Gotham River. He showed me how to focus my anger, remove it from me so I could become a better fighter."

"I started this because of my parent's death as well," Bruce said. "I'm sure you know the story. I was eight when I saw my parents gunned down."

"We all lost something important to us. So did Terry."

"Warren," Mary said softly. "Batman showed up the day after Warren was killed." She looked accusatory at Bruce, "You gave it to him then. Is this legacy so damn important that it costs people their lives?"

Bruce felt the need to clarify, "Terry stole the suit actually. This life was his decision, not mine."

Suddenly the computer lit up, it beeped echoing through the cave. Bruce turned towards it and watched as an unknown program began running. He quickly moved over to it to try to shut it off. A message came up as he did so:

_Touch anything and I'll break your fingers B. Let it run. :-P_

Bruce's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What's going on?" Dick asked.

"I don't know."

The vid-camera came on at first showing an image of the cave reflected back at them then the screen faded and when it came back on Bruce's jaw dropped.

He heard a gasp beside him as Mary and the others took in the image.

The screen displayed one of the rooms in the Justice League Tower. Sitting in the front was a younger version of himself. Behind his younger self were the other five members of the original six. To his youngers right was Aré while to the left was Terry.

Terry pulled his cowl off, a smile of pure joy lighting his face.

_"Mom!"_

Terry's gaze swept over them. Bruce had never seen the boy look so happy. He looked good; his hair was a bit shorter but all in all…

Bruce felt a profound wave of relief. They were alive. He looked at his uncle and Bruce wanted to cry in joy. Having thought he'd lost his family to know they were alive and well was overwhelming.

"Are you all right?" Mary asked, beating Bruce to the question.

_"I'm fine mom."_ Terry reassured. _"We're both fine."_

Aré waved from where he was leaning against the computer. _"Miss us?"_

"You ever pull a stunt like this again and I'll kill you both!" Bruce yelled.

_"Love you too, B."_

Bruce's anger evaporated. Now he truly understood where Aré was coming from when he'd hidden his suites all those times.

"Where are you?" Mary asked.

Terry rubbed at his neck, _"It's more of a when mom."_

"What do you mean?"

Terry looked at Aré and the younger Bruce. _"Where I am, you're not even born yet."_

Oh now that just made Bruce feel old.

"I don't understand."

"They're in the past," Bruce said. "Judging by the youngers I'd say about fifty years or so."

Mary looked at him; confusion warred with relief on her face. "How is that possible?"

_"You'd be surprised. There are a lot of things in this world you know nothing about."_ Aré said.

_"Wait,"_ Terry said, stopping their conversation. Gesturing between the elder and younger versions of Bruce he said, _"Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman or have you already met?"_

"Not now!" both he and his younger said. Déjà vu anyone?

Terry cringed.

"You're the boy who came looking for Terry the other day." Frustration echoed in Mary's voice. "All right, that's enough." She looked at Terry. "I want you home, _now._"

Terry looked sheepish. _"I can't mom, not yet."_

Arms folding across her chest Mary took on the ever to be feared 'mother look.' "Terrance McGinnis you will do as you are told."

'McGinnis?' Bruce's younger self mouthed.

Aré spoke up, _"It's not that simple. Wish it was but for the moment we're stuck here. And what did you mean by the 'other day.'"_ He turned his attention back to Bruce. _"How long have we been gone?"_

"About three days."

Aré looked surprised, _"That's it?"_

Bruce nodded, "How long have you been there?"

Aré and Terry exchanged looks, _"About four months."_ He went stand away from computer but the younger Bruce slammed Aré's hand back down. _"Oh, right."_ The other hand held a drink which he brought to his lips. After taking a sip Aré asked, _"What happened there?"_

"There was an explosion. It took out the bottom part of the tower. The building collapsed shortly afterwards." Fear raced across Aré's face. Bruce was quick to reassure his uncle, "We got your father out. He's upstairs. He's fine."

_"Define fine."_

"He hasn't woken up yet."

Aré cursed. _"But he's alive?"_

"Yes."

Bruce saw relief wash over his uncle. His gaze wandered over everyone present on the other end of the transmission. He was a bit surprised no one else there had said anything.

_"Wow Bats, you got old."_

Bruce saw his younger self cringe slightly. "Hello Flash," he said. "You do realize that in this time you're old too."

_"Yeah but I bet I look good for my age."_

"You have a limp."

_"Say what!"_

"And you use a cane."

The look on Flash's face would have been more comical if he didn't have a mask on. _"Now I know you're just screwing with me. That's mean Bats."_

_ "He can't help it. He was born screwy."_ Aré leaned in to whisper conspiratorially with Flash. He purposefully spoke in a loud whisper so everyone could hear, _"I think he was dropped one too many times on the head."_

"You would know."

_"I'm sitting right here."_ The younger Bruce said.

_"Your point?"_ Aré went to take another sip from his drink. Young Bruce snatched it from his hand. _"Hey!"_

_ "You've had enough."_ He popped the lid and looked inside the cup. _"This was full when you brought this up wasn't it?"_

_ "Yeah, so?"_

"What was in there?" Bruce asked.

His younger self looked up, _"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count."_

Aré turned his attention to Terry's mother. _"I could tell you that you don't have to worry about Terry but since you're his mother I know you will no matter what. What you should know is that Terry is in good company. He fits in perfectly."_

"What do you mean?" Mary asked. Bruce could tell from the sound of her voice that she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

_"You have to have a certain personality trait in order to do this job. Every one of us here is certifiable, some more than others."_ He leveled his gaze at both versions of Bruce. _"The more you get to know my nephew the more you'll see."_

"You're nephew?"

"He's talking about me." Bruce said.

Mary scoffed, "He's barely older than Terry. How could he possibly be your uncle?"

_"I'm a lot older than I look."_

"This is…"

"There's no way!"

All eyes turned to Matt who was staring at his brother's image in disbelief.

"What Mattie?"

"You can't be Batman," Matt said to Terry. "Batman's schway and you… You're a loser."

_"Shut up twip!"_ Terry yelled.

The two boys continued to argue back and forth. _"So this is what I have to look forward to?"_ Bruce's younger asked.

"This isn't even the fun stuff. It gets better."

_"I can't wait."_

"Terry, Matt knock it off." Mary scolded.

"Sorry mom," the boys said in unison.

_"There is a reason we've set this up and it isn't to have you bicker with your brother." _Younger Bruce said. He pulled his own cowl back. With him and Terry next to each other Bruce was really able to tell they were related. Seriously, how had no one else there noticed? _"One thing we need to know is if you remember any of this happening?"_

Bruce shook his head. "I don't remember any of this. This didn't happen the first time around."

Green Lantern spoke up next, _"Chronos screwed things up so badly that the last time we time traveled only Batman and I remembered anything."_

_ "We also came back at right before we left. As far as the timeline was concerned none of it happened."_ Younger Bruce said.

_"Doesn't mean it didn't."_ Aré told them. _"Once we figure out how to send us back to our time it could reset like it did then, as if none of it ever happened."_

That wasn't necessarily a comforting thought. If they came back right before they left and were caught in the explosion… He couldn't think about that.

"What we need to worry about is the impact on the time line."

_"It's hard to do damage control when you don't know what happened originally," _his younger said. _"Has anything there changed? Something that wasn't there before?"_

Bruce thought about it. Things in their time didn't seem to have been effected by their time travel. It was hard to tell though; it had only been a few days here. He decided to voice a question he thought he had the answer to, "How quickly would we notice effects of drastic changes here?"

_"Immediately,"_ Aré replied. _"Nothing's changed?"_

"Not from what I can tell but with time travel it's hard to say." There was another question that had been plaguing him since Aré had told him they had been in the past for four months. "Why haven't you sent yourself and Terry back?"

_"I can't."_

"I don't understand."

_"For some reason I'm being blocked. At first I thought it was because we beat Naku and his gang here but once they arrived I still wasn't able to send us back."_

Bruce had a bad feeling. "But what about this?"

_"This is small in comparison to what I'm trying to do by sending us back. Which reminds me,"_ he snatched his cup back from the younger Bruce, _"give me back my caffeine."_

_ "You know you two talking together," _Terry once again gestured to the two versions of Bruce, _"gives _whole_ new meaning to the phrase, 'I'm talking to myself.'"_

Simultaneous yelling once more, "McGinnis!"

Terry blanched, _"oh that's just wrong."_

Aré laughed. Bruce turned his attention back to his uncle and noticed something he hadn't seen before. Aré took another sip of his drink, the bottle echoing it's emptiness through the straw. Aré glared at the empty cup. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he was on the verge of a migraine. "How much energy are you expending to keep this open?"

_"I'm fine."_

All eyes turned to Aré. Blood began to trickle down his ears and nose. "Shut this off, _now!_"

"No, Terry!" Mary cried.

The younger Bruce wrenched Aré away from the computer. The moment Aré lost contact with the machine the screen went blank.


	11. Ten: Consequences

_**Ten: Consequences**_

Aré fell unconscious the moment he was pulled from the computer. He would have hit the floor hard had Bruce not caught him. Blood flowed freely from his ears and nose. His teeth were stained red from internal bleeding. His breathing was shallow, his lungs sounded like they were full of fluid. Most likely more blood.

"Infirmary—"

"On it Bats," Flash took Aré from Bruce and ran down to the infirmary.

Bruce replaced his cowl and quickly followed after Flash. He could almost feel Terry and the others following after him. They weaved their way through the corridors and people who lined them. Most who knew him knew enough to get out of his way. The few who didn't were quickly schooled on why it was not a good idea to block him.

He reached the infirmary in record time. Doctors were trying their best to stop the bleeding. He'd never seen Aré's magic harm him. He didn't know it could. Aré had always been able to heal quickly, to see him hooked up to monitors with a tube down his throat was more than a little disconcerting.

"What's wrong with him?"

One of the doctors working on Aré answered, "We're not sure yet." The doctor's hands were red from blood. Aré's coat had been opened and his shirt cut off. There was a tube sticking out the side of his chest. His torso was dark from bruises and blood. His whole body was flushed, looking like he had a fever but Bruce knew that wasn't the problem. His blood looked to almost be seeping through his pours. "All we know is he's bleeding internally and we have no way of stopping it."

Batman watched as blood was set up for a transfusion. "How is that possible?"

The doctor, a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair turned to glare at him. "I told you I don't know yet. We're not exactly well versed in Phoenix's anatomy. He's identical to humans in his organs and their locations however his magical ability has always been an unknown factor. We don't know enough about his species to know why he's not healing like he should or what could have caused him to start bleeding in the first place." He returned his attention to Aré who continued to bleed on the table. It ran like rivers onto the floor. "It's like all of the blood vesicles in his body burst starting with his head and working their way down. His blood was boiling."

Dark bruises continued to from along Aré's abdomen where blood had pooled. This couldn't be happening. He'd nearly lost Terry and now he was about to lose the only flesh and blood he had left. He couldn't do this.

"What about his dad?" Terry asked.

The doctor's attention snapped back to them. "He has living relatives?" The doctor didn't wait for an answer. "If you know a blood relative for Phoenix get them here quick. The closer in relation the better. What was he doing before this happened?"

"He was using his magic," Batman supplied. Aré had opened a connection to another time. Aré had told him before that he couldn't travel time. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Aré had forced his powers to do something they weren't able to do. It had to have put an enormous amount of strain on his body. "I have to contact his father."

"You need to stay, I'll do it," Superman said then ran from the room.

He knew Superman was right. If the only way to save Aré was to reveal their relationship to these people then so be it. At least until Kane arrived. "How much blood do you need?"

"Your blood wouldn't do any good. You're not related."

For the first time Batman voiced a secret only few in the tower knew, "I am. Phoenix is my uncle. How much blood do you need?"

The doctor looked momentarily surprised. "More than you can give but I'll take what I can get so long as you're a match."

"I have type O blood."

The doctor turned to a nurse. "Set up an i/v for him."

"Set up two."

Batman was speechless when Terry spoke. The boy, whose cowl was back in place, gave a sheepish shrug. "I told him I wouldn't tell anyone but what's more important, the secret or his life?"

"How…?" Though he probably knew.

"Hi dad."

Could this day be any more full of surprises? What was next? Was Hell going to open an ice rink? He didn't have time to contemplate or take in the gravity of Terry's words.

They both went about removing sections of their armor which would allow the nurses to take their blood without revealing their identities. Though the medical staff was sworn to secrecy and also had doctor patient confidentiality some habits were hard to break.

It seemed to take forever for the blood bags to be filled but the moment they were done they were given to Aré. Batman began to wonder what was taking Kane. He knew the man well enough to know Kane would drop anything at a moment's notice for Aré. The nurses took the blood he and Terry donated and immediately began to give it to Aré. After a bag and a half had been given the bleeding appeared to be slowing down.

"His blood pressure is still too low." The doctor made an adjustment on one of the machines. "He's also not getting enough oxygen."

"And that means…" Terry prompted.

"The lack of oxygen can cause permanent brain damage. If his oxygen levels get too much lower he will die."

"What about his blood?" Batman asked.

"It's slowly starting to clot. Something has seriously messed with his system. We took a sample of his blood for tests. Hopefully we'll know more once the results come back."

Where was Superman? Batman was about ready to start climbing the walls or go search for the man himself. The door behind them opened and Batman was relieved to see Superman with Kane right behind him.

Kane immediately went over to his son. "What do you need of me?" he asked the doctor.

"He needs the blood of a close relative. We're hoping it'll help heal him. We've already given Phoenix donations from those two."

Kane's turned to him and Terry. His eyes widened momentarily when he realized what it meant that Terry had given blood that had helped. He reached down and pulled out a small dagger from a holster in his boot. Turning one of Aré's hands up he cut his son's palm before cutting a deep gash in his own and placing their hands together. "Naosu," _heal_.

The moment Kane spoke Aré began to thrash about. The doctors and nurses attempted to restrain his flailing limbs only to be knocked away. A glow surrounded the two. Kane held Aré's hand tight while Aré seized, allowing the blood to flow from him into his son. The bruises on Aré's body slowly began to fade. Kane reached with his free hand to pull the chest tube free, the wound closing afterwards. Aré's vital signs began to return to normal.

Shortly after the seizing had stopped Aré's eyes fluttered open and he looked around in confusion, his gaze still a bit disoriented. One of the doctors removed the breathing tube.

"How do you feel?" Kane asked his son.

"Like I was hit by a bus," Aré rasped. He curled towards his father, clasping his head. _"Hurts,"_ he said in his native tongue. He coughed, left over blood covered his hands when he did so.

Kane ran his fingers through his son's hair. _"I know."_ Kane's gaze immediately settled on Batman. Switching back to English, "What happened to him?"

"We were trying to contact the time the boy comes from."

Kane leaned down to whisper in Aré's ear. Aré nodded then Kane came over to him, gripping his arm and hauling him from the room. _"What do you know?"_

Batman told Kane everything he knew about Terry and Aré's trip through time. "We managed to contact the future. He was fine until—"

_"You should have known better,"_ Kane growled. _"His ability to travel time has been blocked for unknown reasons by an unknown source."_ Kane ripped the cowl from Batman's head, grabbing his throat and squeezing. Bruce gasped for breath. _"You nearly killed my son. Be thankful Aré didn't die boy. If he had nothing could save you from my wrath, his kin or not."_

Kane let go and Bruce sucked in large gulps of air. He was thankful they were in an area no one could see them. Then again given Kane's mood an audience would probably have been a good thing. "I'm sorry."

"You say that but how would you feel if you were in my place?"

It was then Terry's words came back to him, _'Hi dad.'_ God, Terry was his son and he had nearly lost him only a few days before. He'd even seen him… "I watched my son die once. I'll do everything in my power never to see it again."

Kane tilted his head to the side. "The boy."

"How did—"

"I figured it out when I saw you two together. You look very similar and you both carry the essence of Aré in your blood. I simply didn't say anything before."

Bruce replaced his cowl and followed Kane back to the infirmary. He noticed Terry was the only one waiting. Kane went over to his son who looked to still be in some pain. The doctors had gone about attempting to clean him up. There was still a lot of blood covering Aré.

The two conversed in low tones before Aré finally sat up. He gripped his head, covering his eyes. Kane pulled Aré to him, rubbing his back. The glare he sent Batman would be very hard to misinterpret. Kane was right, Bruce should have known better.

"He's going to be okay right?" Terry asked softly.

Batman nodded, "Now that his father is here. Where did everyone go?"

"They thought it was best to let Aré rest for a while." Terry turned his attention to him. "I'm glad we were able to tell you and my mom we were fine. I just wish it hadn't made Aré sick. What would cause that? I mean, I thought he and his dad were the only ones who were allowed to go back and forth through time. Why can't he now?"

It was a question Batman had no answer for. "I don't know. Nothing should be able to prevent it."

"I wonder if it has to do with…" Terry motioned with his head for them to leave the room. Once in the hallway Terry continued, his voice low, "something happened to Kane in my time. I don't know what. Aré said he was under some kind of spell. The first time I saw him he was in some kind of glass coffin. He looked… I don't know exactly how to describe it. He looked dead but you could tell he wasn't. I guess suspended or frozen would be the best way to describe it."

The only one who would truly gain from removing Kane from his position was Sora. That woman had been working for centuries to take control of Gaia. Though the last he knew she did not have the power to pull off the kind of spell Terry was talking about. "It is possible it's connected but I'm not so sure. Something happening in the future like that shouldn't affect his abilities in this time." One more mystery which needed to be solved.

Sounds of protest came from inside the infirmary. He and Terry turned back just as the door opened. Aré paused when he saw them, pulling his coat tighter around himself. He looked like hell, his eyes were still bloodshot, his complexion pale, covered in residual blood and he looked like he wanted to vomit and pass out all at once.

Aré grabbed onto the edge of the doorway to keep from falling over. Kane was right behind him, "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," Aré protested.

"You don't look fine." Terry said.

Batman saw inside the room where the doctors looked at a loss at what to do. Their own voices of protest had been heard and it was obvious Aré was ignoring them. "Listen to you father."

_"Like you listened to me?"_ Aré placed his other hand against his head again. He groaned, _"I feel like my head is going to explode."_

_ "Let's go back inside and you can lie down."_ Kane placed a steadying hand on his son's back. _"You need to give yourself time to heal. You lost a lot of blood."_

Aré turned pain filled eyes back on his father, _"I'm not going back in there."_

Kane nodded, seeming to have come to the same realization as Batman had. Aré hated doctors and the idea of being stuck in a hospital, even one maintained by the Justice League frightened him. He was always afraid he was going to end up some kind of science experiment.

_"Fine,"_ Kane reached up and placed his hand against Aré's forehead, _"sleep."_

Aré's eyes rolled back and he collapsed against his father who picked him up right away.

"What did you do?" Terry asked at the same time the doctors rushed over.

"I simply put him to sleep." Kane reassured them. He looked at Batman. "Where can I put him?"

Batman motioned with his head for Kane to follow. He led both Kane and Terry to where he kept quarters while at the Tower. Aré made it a habit to not stay at the Tower. On the rare occasion he had to he always stole Batman's quarters.

They reached his room quickly, avoiding as many people as possible. Kane placed Aré on the small bed along the far wall, taking the blanket at the end of it and using it to cover Aré. Once he was satisfied he turned to Batman. "This is going to stop."

That came out of left field, "Excuse me?"

Kane waved his hands around the room. "I'm tired of you and everyone else here taking my son for granted. Every time you have something wrong you come to him expecting him to be some kind of miracle worker simply because he's Fae. You need to get out of trouble, who do you send for? First time you were hurt while you were out doing…" He made a vague gesture at Batman's suit, "that. Who was the one to heal your wounds so you wouldn't get caught? Who's covered for you time and time again when some idiot figures out whom you are under there? Who was it that healed Terry of his injuries? Aré told me about what happened. Aré has bled for you more times than I can remember and this time you almost got him killed."

"Aré's my family, I think of him like a brother."

"I know you care for him but you have a shitty way of showing it."

Bruce pulled his cowl off. "Look I'm sorry—"

Kane folded his arms across his chest looking every bit the king he was. "You say that every damn time. It's not just the physical wounds you cause him, have you ever thought about the emotional ones? When you came to Gaia a couple months ago it was because you were trying to figure out how Terry got here. All you cared about was the mystery _you_ needed to solve. You treat Aré like a child but he's not. He may look like he's twenty but you need to stop trying to control his every move."

"I am not trying to control him."

"Oh really?" Kane scoffed. "You want him at your every beck and call. He's been trying to send Terry and himself back to the time they belong in and what did you do when you found out he hadn't told you what had happened? You got mad and treated him like a child because you don't think he can handle it."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? Remember the Robert Josephs incident? You had been on him for days about his insomnia. Constantly checking on him, making sure he didn't do something to expose you all. I understand, in part, why you did it but it doesn't excuse your treatment of him."

"He'd been falsely accused of murder by his _brother_ if you recall. Hell, he passed out in his jail cell and Gordon saw what he was. He's damn lucky Gordon likes us enough to keep his mouth shut. If he'd just come to me he would have been fine."

"How can you be so sure? You treat him as if he doesn't know how the world works. As if he needs to get a little older before he can be let out on his own. You have known him since you were how old, ten? Was he the same _child_ then that you see him as now?"

"It isn't like that. You don't understand, he's not—"

Kane's eyebrow rose, "not what?"

Bruce's eyes went wide as realization of what he was going to say hit him. His mouth worked but no words passed his lips.

"He's not human? That's what you were about to say isn't it?" Kane shook his head, his expression twisting into one of frustrated anger. "I had truly hoped you were different. That you would see Aré for _who_ he is instead of _what_ he is. Aré isn't blind to what you think of him but he still has faith that as family you would eventually see what so few take the time to. You've never seen him as anything except for your immortal uncle who has the power to make your life easier."

"I…"

"Leave."

"Kane—"

"I said _leave_," Kane bellowed, his eyes glowing white momentarily. Taking the hint, Bruce turned and left.

* * *

Aré heard the door close after Bruce and Terry left. He cracked an eye open, "You didn't have to be so harsh dad."

Kane turned towards him, his ire still tangible. "You should be sleeping."

Aré sat up and shrugged, "What can I say? I was a little resistant."

"Stubborn is more like it." Kane pulled a chair close to the bed and sat. "I meant what I said to him."

"I know you did but contacting the future wasn't his idea. It was mine."

Kane shook his head. "Yet he would have suggested it eventually."

"Maybe," Aré rubbed his eyes. He was tired but he couldn't let himself sleep knowing Naku and the others were out there gunning for Bruce and Terry. "I also had to know if things there had changed."

"Your blood was boiling Aré. The amount of power you were forcing yourself to…" Kane swallowed, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"This is my responsibility. Naku and Sora came back using a time machine, bringing with them people who want to kill Batman. If they kill Bruce then Terry will never become Batman and things there will become worse."

"Well you have one more thing to yell at your nephews for when you're up to it."

"What… Nephews?" He groaned, "Son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill Terry."

"Don't blame him. He and Bruce donated blood to keep you alive until I arrived." He reached over, taking Aré's hand and squeezing. "I don't want you doing anything like this again. If you need to contact the future, ask me to do it."

"Can you? Are you even able to send us back?" Aré had thought about asking his father but since they still had to foil Naku's plans he'd never brought it up.

"I can always try."

"And end up like I just did, no thanks."

"Aré—"

"Dad please, I heard what you said to Bruce and you're just as guilty of treating me like a child as he is."

"I'm your father, I'm entitled."

"Whatever."

"You're grounded."

Aré laughed, "You can't ground me."

"Want to place money on that?"

"No, I want to crawl into a dark hole and pull a Rip Van Winkle."

Kane shook his head, chuckling softly.

"What?" Aré asked.

"You complain about their being stubborn. Ever wonder where they learned it from?"

"Don't blame this on me. It's all Mari's fault."

"Who taught her?"

"I…" Aré reached behind him and threw the pillow at his father. "Shut up."

The two sobered up, "I suppose this explains why Sora and Nakumaru are no longer at the palace."

"When did they leave?"

"A couple of days ago. It's not unlike them to leave but this," Kane shook his head, "this was different."

"How so?"

"I suspected something was wrong when I felt another shift in time. I don't know how they masked it but somehow Sora and Nakumaru did. So much for them being at the summer palace."

"We have to release Naku from his curse."

"I know but I am not about to sacrifice one child to save another."

Aré looked away, "You may not have a choice. Besides, hasn't he suffered enough?"

Kane reached up, taking Aré's chin and forcing Aré to look at him. "I am _not_ going to let you die. Aré listen to me. I have fought too long and too hard to simply allow for you to give up. Regardless of what I said to Bruce I think of him as family as well. He's your kin and having him in your life makes you happy. I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you."

"Easier said than done."

"Ever the pessimist."

"No, I'm being realistic. Bruce said Joker was there when Terry was hurt. That means Naku's recruiting people from this time. It may not just be Joker."

"Right now it can all wait. You need rest."

"What I need is a fifth of whisky and a loose woman."

Kane smacked him aside the head, causing Aré's headache to flare. "Don't be a smart ass. Besides Mai wouldn't like the last part."

Aré rubbed his head, "Unless she was the—"

"Ah!" Kane interrupted, "I don't want to know what you do in the privacy of your bedroom. I don't care how old you are you're still my baby."

Aré leaned down to capture his father's attention. "Gaga."

"Cheeky brat."

"You love me."

Kane shook his head. "Go to sleep." He stood stopping any protest Aré had when he said, "Don't make me use a stronger spell."

"Fine," Aré took his pillow back and laid back down. "This isn't over."

"Yes it is." Kane tucked Aré in.

Aré rolled onto his side muttering, "Napoleonic power monger."

"You have been watching _way_ too much _Stargate SG-1_. You're starting to emulate Jack O'Neill."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"With you, maybe."

"Love you too dad."

Aré closed his eyes. His head hurt less once he did so. Damn he hadn't realized just how much the lights were hurting him. He forced himself to rest. He didn't fall asleep but he did plan on what he was going to do to stop his brother and step mother from killing his family.

* * *

Nakumaru watched as Joker went through the process of making his toxin. He stood in the doorway as the purple clad man moved back and forth between the various stages of the procedure. He paid no attention to Joker's mutterings. The man was insane, even Naku knew that, but he was a vital part in his mother's plans. It also killed Naku knowing what he was doing and having no way of warning his brother.

He turned when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. "Did you retrieve what I told you to?"

Spellbinder and Derek Powers stopped. "We did," Powers replied.

"Interesting package," said Spellbinder. "Gross but interesting."

"Where is it?"

"In the other room," Powers said. "What did you want with it anyway?"

"It's just another piece of the puzzle."

Joker turned around now, having heard the conversation. "More toys for us to play with?"

"Nothing I will let you touch," Nakumaru replied. He may not be in control of all of his actions but with this he would allow no harm to come. "If any of you so much as think of harming—"

Spellbinder held up his hands, "Hey what you want to do with a bunch of bones is your business. It's a strange kink but whatever."

Did this man honestly think he… Ugh these… _things_ had disgusting thought processes. "_That_ is not why I had you collect them." Leaving Joker to his own devices, Naku went in search of the package he had had the other two collect. Upon entering his private room he found the box placed upon the desk. Naku opened the box. Inside was a human skeleton. He honestly couldn't believe his mother was going to do this. It went against everything…

Nakumaru felt a sharp pain along his spine causing him to suck his breath in sharply. Dropping the lid of the box he turned to where his mother stood with one hand outstretched. The kanji along his back burned.

"You were thinking of the bastard again."

The pain subsided allowing Nakumaru to catch his breath. Actually he hadn't been thinking of Aré but now that she mentioned it. How he wished he could speak freely. He fought for control over his body. "This is wrong Mother," he ground out. "It goes against the highest laws."

Sora shrugged, seeming indifferent. "Those laws will be forfeit when you take the throne."

"I don't _want_ it."

She moved over to him, placing her ice cold hand against his cheek. Naku's skin crawled. This may have been the woman who birthed him but he hated her with every fiber of his being. "Perhaps but it will be yours which will in turn make it mine."

"You are never going to release me are you?"

Sora smiled, it was a frightful sight. "You are mine, my precious son. I will not allow anyone to take you from me."

"Not even papa."

"Your father is weak. His feelings towards the halfbreed will always make him weak."

"Stop calling my brother that!" Pain shot along his spine once more forcing Naku to his knees. He gasped for breath while spots danced in his vision.

"Do not make me have to punish you."

He glared up at his mother, feeling himself lose control of his body once again. "Yes Mother." _Rot in Hell bitch!_

"Good, now come. We have a ceremony to perform."

The pain once again receding, Naku stood, picked up the box and followed his mother from the room.

* * *

Terry found Aré a few hours later sitting in front of the computer in Batman's quarters seemingly engrossed with whatever he was doing. He looked better, his color had returned. He'd changed out of his bloody clothes. The intense look he was giving the computer screen made Terry curious. "What are you doing?"

Aré used the mouse to move something, "Playing Spider Solitaire."

Terry blinked, "You're kidding. You look like you're trying to solve some kind of intense math problem."

Aré glanced away from the screen before returning his attention back to his game. "You ever try to beat the four suit version? I've never won a game. Gah, screw this," there was some more mouse clicking, "I'm going back to the two suits."

Terry couldn't believe this, "You're using a multi-billion dollar computer to play solitaire?"

"You got any better ideas right now?"

Actually he did, "Couldn't you be using that to try and find your brother?"

Aré leaned back in his chair, "I could but it wouldn't do me any good. Naku's not usually one to be on the grid, if you know what I mean."

Great, so they were back to square one.

"By the way, being here right now probably isn't the smartest thing for you to do."

Terry cocked his head to the side, "What are you talking about?"

"What did I tell you _not_ to do before we got here?" Aré didn't give Terry a chance to answer. "I told you under no uncertain terms to tell Bruce about your true relationship to him. Didn't I? Why can't you listen, just for once?"

Terry bristled, "You were dying. What was I supposed to do, let you bleed out on the table? I did what I could to help keep you alive until your dad could get here."

Aré turned his gaze away, "It wasn't worth the risk."

"You're life wasn't worth it? What the hell? Does everyone in this family have suicidal tendencies?"

Aré's lips twitched, not quite forming a smile. "Apparently so. You seem to have a knack for it."

"Look Aré, I wasn't going to stand there and let you die when I had the ability to help. Dad would never have forgiven me if I had. I wouldn't have forgiven myself."

"It's not that simple Terry, it never is. Did you even bother to stop and think about the consequences?"

"Actually no, but since we're on the topic. You've been telling me over and over that we can't mess up the timeline. How badly would things have been screwed up if you _had_ died?"

The look on Aré's face told him the other man obviously hadn't thought about that one. Terry kept his satisfied smirk in check.

"That's not the point," Aré eventually said.

Terry couldn't help the roll of his eyes. They were going in circles. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Whatever, point is it's done and over with. Can we please focus on more important things?"

"Yes, more important things." Aré rubbed at his eyes, tipping his char back so that only the last two legs were on the floor, his feet pushed against the desk to keep him there. He glanced at Terry, "How's he taking it by the way?"

It took a second for Terry to realize what Aré was talking about. "Uh, well…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "better than I thought actually. I haven't told him that my mom isn't even born yet."

"Oh yeah, surefire way to make him feel old," Aré laughed. "All joking aside, it'll probably be good for him once we get back to our time. He doesn't have a lot of family."

"And now he's got two sons."

Aré shuddered, "That's just creepy." He sobered, seemingly to set him mind back to the task at hand. "Right now I honestly have no idea what to do, as much as I hate to admit it. I just… I have a very bad feeling Terry. And I feel like I'm dragging innocent people into my problems. Naku is my brother and I… I don't want to lose anyone."

"We'll find a way to save him," Terry said with conviction. "There's something else I came to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

Terry pulled out a chair and sat. Given that Aré had nearly died a few hours ago he could understand everyone's wanting to let Aré rest but what Terry had overhead he felt Aré should be told. He wasn't exactly sure of the significance but…

"Part of the reason I came was I think there may be some new evidence to help us find your brother."

Aré looked intrigued, "oh?"

"Yeah, though no one's told you yet because of," he made a gesture with his hands, "you almost dying and all. The reason it took Superman so long to find your dad was because your dad was busy."

"He does run a country."

"He wasn't busy with that." Terry said. He took a breath, "He was checking out a…" Terry suppressed a shudder, "…a grave."

Confusion was written all over Aré's face. "Okay… You've lost me."

"Your sister's name was Mari right?"

Terry watched as Aré's color drained. "Yes," Aré replied hesitantly.

Terry nodded, swallowing around the lump which had suddenly formed in his throat. "Your dad was investigating her grave. Someone desecrated it, her bones are gone."

There was a beat of silence then, "_What!_"


End file.
